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Castile soap is an olive oil-based hard soap made in a style similar to that originating in the Castile region of Spain. [1]
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Castile soap is an olive oil-based hard soap made in a style similar to that originating in the Castile region of Spain. [1]
The origins of Castile soap go back to the Levant, where Aleppo soapmakers have made hard soaps based on olive and laurel oil for millennia. [2]
It is commonly believed that the Crusaders brought Aleppo soap back to Europe in the 11th century, based on the claim that the earliest soap made in Europe was just after the Crusades, but in fact, the Greeks knew about soap in the first century AD and Zosimos of Panopolis described soap and soapmaking in c. 300 AD. [3] Following the Crusades, production of this soap extended to the whole Mediterranean area.
Early soapmakers in the Mediterranean area did not have easy access to laurel oil and therefore dropped it from their formulations, thereby creating an olive oil-based soap now known as Castile soap. Castile soap is so called because it was produced on a large scale in the territories of the Crown of Castile, from where it was exported to numerous places in Europe, mainly during the Modern Age. Although the Crown of Castile was not the only producer of this type of soap, it was its producer par excellence.
In the 17th century, the soap caused controversy in England, since it supplanted the unnamed local soap after the Spanish Catholic manufacturers purchased the monopoly on the soap from the cash-strapped Carolinian government. Its ties to Catholicism caused a public-relations campaign to be established, featuring washerwomen showing how much more effective local soaps were than Castile soap. The sale of a monopoly in Protestant England to a Catholic company caused a great uproar, ending with the Castile soap company eventually being stripped of the monopoly. [4]
Importations of "Castile soap" through Antwerp appear in the London port books of 1567–1568, [5] though the Oxford English Dictionary has no references to "Castile soap" earlier than 1616. In his article "A short history of soap", John Hunt maintains that barilla (an impure form of sodium carbonate obtained from halophyte plant ashes that were high in sodium) was boiled with locally available olive oil, rather than tallow. [6]
Adding brine to the boiled liquor made the soap float to the surface, where the soap-boiler could skim it off, leaving the excess lye and impurities to settle out. While Aleppo soap tends to be green, this produced what was probably the first white hard soap, which hardened further as it aged, without losing its whiteness, forming jabón de Castilla.
Apothecaries knew the product by the Latin names of sapo hispaniensis (Spanish soap) or of sapo castilliensis (Castilian soap). [1]
Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained by pressing whole olives, the fruit of Olea europaea, a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, and extracting the oil.
The olive, botanical name Olea europaea, meaning 'European olive', is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as Olea europaea'Montra', dwarf olive, or little olive. The species is cultivated in all the countries of the Mediterranean, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, North and South America and South Africa. It is the type species for its genus, Olea. The tree and its fruit give their name to the Oleaceae plant family, which also includes species such as lilac, jasmine, forsythia, and the true ash tree.
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Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaOH. It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations Na+ and hydroxide anions OH−.
Aioli, allioli or aïoli ( or ; Provençal Occitan: alhòli or aiòli ; Catalan: allioli ; Spanish: alioli is a cold sauce consisting of an emulsion of garlic and olive oil; it is found in the cuisines of the northwest Mediterranean.
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Saponification is a process of cleaving esters into carboxylate salts and alcohols by the action of aqueous alkali. Typically aqueous sodium hydroxide solutions are used. It is an important type of alkaline hydrolysis. When the carboxylate is long chain, its salt is called a soap. The saponification of ethyl acetate gives sodium acetate and ethanol:
Antakya, modern form of Antioch, is a municipality and the capital district of Hatay Province, Turkey. Its area is 703 km2, and its population is 399,045 (2022). It is the capital of Hatay Province, the southernmost province of Turkey. The city is located in a well-watered and fertile valley on the Orontes River, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the Levantine Sea.
Laurus nobilis is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as bay leaf for seasoning in cooking. Its common names include bay tree, bay laurel, sweet bay, true laurel, Grecian laurel, or simply laurel. Laurus nobilis figures prominently in classical Greco-Roman culture.
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Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. Oil from the bowhead whale was sometimes known as train-oil, which comes from the Dutch word traan.
Castile, Castille or Castilla may refer to:
Marseille soap or Savon de Marseille is a traditional hard soap made from vegetable oils that has been produced around Marseille, France, for about 600 years. The first documented soapmaker was recorded from the city in about 1370. By 1688, Louis XIV introduced regulations in the Edict of Colbert limiting the use of the name Savon de Marseille to olive oil based soaps. The law has since been amended to allow other vegetable oils to be used.
Afrin District is a district of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria. The administrative centre is the city of Afrin. At the 2004 census, the district had a population of 172,095. Syria's Afrin District fell under the control of the People's Protection Units (YPG) around 2012 and an "Afrin Canton" was declared in 2014, followed by an "Afrin Region" in 2017. During Operation Olive Branch, the entire district was captured by Turkey and its allies.
Palestinian handicrafts are handicrafts produced by Palestinian people. A wide variety of handicrafts, many of which have been produced by Arabs in Palestine for hundreds of years, continue to be produced today. Palestinian handicrafts include embroidery work, pottery-making, soap-making, glass-making, weaving, and olive-wood and Mother of Pearl carvings, among others. Some Palestinian cities in the West Bank, particularly Bethlehem, Hebron and Nablus have gained renown for specializing in the production of a particular handicraft, with the sale and export of such items forming a key part of each cities' economy.
Aleppo soap is a handmade, hard bar soap associated with the city of Aleppo, Syria. Aleppo soap is classified as a Castile soap as it is a hard soap made from olive oil and lye, from which it is distinguished by the inclusion of laurel oil.
Nabulsi soap is a type of castile soap produced in Nablus in the West Bank, Palestine. Its chief ingredients are virgin olive oil, water, and an alkaline sodium compound, such as sodium hydroxide. The finished product is ivory-colored and has almost no scent. Traditionally made by women for household use, it had become a significant industry for Nablus by the 14th century. In 1907 the city's 30 Nabulsi soap factories were supplying half the soap in Palestine. The industry declined during the mid-20th century following the destruction caused by the 1927 Jericho earthquake and later disruption from the Israeli military occupation. As of 2008, only two soap factories survive in Nablus. The old Arafat soap factory has been turned into a Cultural Heritage Enrichment Center.
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