SANTENY: A collateral victim of the Syrian war, Aleppo soap has found a sanctuary far from the ruined city whose elegant souks, many now reduced to rubble, have made the coveted green bars for centuries.
In an industrial zone on the outskirts of Paris, a Syrian master soapmaker is carrying on the tradition, mixing olive oil and laurel oil with water and lye to produce a deeply moisturising natural cleanser that has won devotees worldwide.
The scent of laurel oil wafts through the corridors of the factory in Santeny, about 30 km southeast of the French capital, where big blocks of soap are drying.
Wearing white overalls, Hassan Harastani stirs a bubbling pea-green mixture in a giant cauldron while chatting with businessman Samir Constantini.
Constantini, a trained doctor, began importing soap from Syria’s historic second city in 2004 and later began producing the soap under the “Alepia” brand.
His plan had been to open a soap factory on the outskirts of Aleppo with Harastani, a master of the art who learnt the trade from his father.
But Syria’s brutal civil war, which has made a smoldering ruin of much of Aleppo, laid waste to his plans.
Harastani and his family fled the fierce fighting that turned the city into a global symbol of suffering.
“We could no longer go to the factory because of the shelling and kidnappings,” he said. With all but one or two of around 50 soap factories destroyed in Aleppo, Constantini and Harastini decided to start producing the soap on French soil.
“I used to have lots of customers, in Syria but also abroad, in France, Italy, Germany, the Gulf countries, South Korea, Japan, China,” he says.
Constantini is adamant that the Made in France soap is still essentially Syrian.
“If a top French chef opens a French restaurant in New York it remains French cuisine, not New York cuisine. It’s the same for the soap. It is made by the master soapmaker Harastani and is, therefore, proper Aleppo soap,” he argues.
In an industrial zone on the outskirts of Paris, a Syrian master soapmaker is carrying on the tradition, mixing olive oil and laurel oil with water and lye to produce a deeply moisturising natural cleanser that has won devotees worldwide.
The scent of laurel oil wafts through the corridors of the factory in Santeny, about 30 km southeast of the French capital, where big blocks of soap are drying.
Wearing white overalls, Hassan Harastani stirs a bubbling pea-green mixture in a giant cauldron while chatting with businessman Samir Constantini.
Constantini, a trained doctor, began importing soap from Syria’s historic second city in 2004 and later began producing the soap under the “Alepia” brand.
His plan had been to open a soap factory on the outskirts of Aleppo with Harastani, a master of the art who learnt the trade from his father.
But Syria’s brutal civil war, which has made a smoldering ruin of much of Aleppo, laid waste to his plans.
Harastani and his family fled the fierce fighting that turned the city into a global symbol of suffering.
“We could no longer go to the factory because of the shelling and kidnappings,” he said. With all but one or two of around 50 soap factories destroyed in Aleppo, Constantini and Harastini decided to start producing the soap on French soil.
“I used to have lots of customers, in Syria but also abroad, in France, Italy, Germany, the Gulf countries, South Korea, Japan, China,” he says.
Constantini is adamant that the Made in France soap is still essentially Syrian.
“If a top French chef opens a French restaurant in New York it remains French cuisine, not New York cuisine. It’s the same for the soap. It is made by the master soapmaker Harastani and is, therefore, proper Aleppo soap,” he argues.
