Sheesh!

Secret Dubai is back, and has started a thread on aromas which has somehow veered off into the various merits / demerits of sheesha. Offspring is a bit of a sheesha nut, and has been totally deprived of it since moving to London. He had asked us to bring one of his pipes when we went over in the summer. This we duly did, but the next problem was getting hold of decent charcoal and the flavoured tobacco.

I'm not really into sheesha myself, so the technology is all a bit beyond me. Offspring had got some double apple baccy from somewhere, but wandering around Walthamstow yielded no charcoal. He ended up buying a few kilos of barbecue briquettes from Sainsbury's and we spent a happy afternoon almost burning the house down. His basic plan seemed to be to burn some of this stuff in an aluminium tray in the garden, and then hammer the glowing embers into chunks small enough to fit into the pipe.

No, it didn't work.

A few days later we were in Camden, and he found a shop that sold all the bits, including charcoal. It was staggeringly expensive, but we bought a little bit. A week or two after that we went to Spain. Enquiries about sheesha cafes in Valencia didn't amount to much, but we did learn that there is one in a far-distant suburb. We had more luck in Barcelona, in a dodgy-looking bar in a dodgy-looking alley off La Ramblas, a sheesha was had.

So if any of my readers can offer useful info on where to get sheesha charcoal and tobacco in London, Barcelona and Valencia, your advice will be appreciated!