locally produced

Ingredients

locally developed recipe

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The printing ink utilized by the Bûlâq Press was not imported from foreign sources; instead, the recipe for the ink was developed and produced on-site in Egypt (p. 16). Historically, there were religious-legal concerns regarding ink composition, specifically the potential presence of porcine products (from pigs), which led to a delay in the printing of religious texts until such matters were clarified by religious authorities (p. 12). By 1950, the press was consuming approximately 5,000 kilograms of ink annually for its various publications (p. 16).

Evidence

"What is known is that the papers were imported from Italy and the ink recipe was developed and produced locally.47"

Remarks

The establishment of a local foundry in 1815-1821 was intended to allow the Press to cast its own types (sabk al-hurûf) to avoid dependency on foreign sources (p. 5). The quality of the ink and general production was initially modest compared to private sector presses (p. 3). The use of specific scripts like Nashk and Nastaliq influenced the visual presentation and readability of the inked characters (p. 6).