This is Mr Haitham Elarab from Syria. He is a master at making ‘Igal’ or ‘Egal’ and he learned this from his late father. I walked into his shop this afternoon after having lunch at Souq Waqif. Although the souq is a tourist area, with many shops selling antiques made last week and useless ugly house decorations, they do have a few shops that in my opinion, are little gems. The three that I remember well are a shop that specialises in making Uud, the gulf’s number one musical instrument; a photo shop that sells images of the area and has a small studio to take photos of foreigners in local dress (he has a fantastic collection of antique cameras – but not for sale); and this tiny Igal shop.
