I'd say go for the real papyrii because it's prettier.
Now, sorry to go totally off topic here, but I've never heard that banana leaves contain a toxic substance. As a person who lives in a "Banana Republic" I can tell you that most typical Costa Rican dishes are actually cooked in banana leaves. They pick 'em right off the tree and use them for all kinds of cooking purposes. In fact, in most of latin America banana leaves are commonly used in the kitchen and are a cooking staple. They're also used extensively in the south pacific in lieu of pots and pans. Banana paper products such as notebooks and stationary are sold here precisely in all the ecology minded stores. Could it be perhaps the ink and not the banana leaves that causes the Egyptian vendors to use plastic gloves? Or maybe they just don't want to smudge them or get fingerprints on them?
Regards
Priscilla (who has cooked with, eaten on, licked and even swallowed banana leaves)
[quote=lizajuk;4670]1
3.Don't buy cheap fake papyrii, banana leaves contain a toxic substance and you'll notice those vendors have plastic gloves. Go for the real stuff.