Makroudh (), also spelled Makrout, is a

cookie A cookie is a sweet biscuit with high sugar and fat content. Cookie dough is softer than that used for other types of biscuit, and they are cooked longer at lower temperatures. The dough typically contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of ...

from the

cuisine A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, List of cooking techniques, techniques and Dish (food), dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, ...

of the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

. It is filled with dates and nuts or

almond paste Almond paste is made from ground almonds or almond meal and sugar in equal quantities, with small amounts of cooking oil, eggs, heavy cream or corn syrup added as a binder. It is similar to marzipan, with a coarser texture. Almond paste is used a ...

, that has a diamond shape – the name derives from this characteristic shape. The dough is made with a combination of

semolina Semolina is the name given to roughly milled durum wheat mainly used in making pasta and sweet puddings. The term ''semolina'' is also used to designate coarse millings of other varieties of wheat, and sometimes other grains (such as rice or ma ...

and flour, which gives the pastry a very specific texture and flavor. Makroudh can be fried in oil or oven-baked. It is popular in the

where there are many varieties of Makroudh, some of which are pastries that do not share much in common with the traditional Makroudh except the shape. In Algeria, they may be filled with almond paste. Makroudh with dates and honey is also popular during

Eid al-Fitr Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main Islamic holidays, festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide becaus ...

Preparation

''Makroudh'' is prepared by filling a dough made with

, usually using the

Deglet Nour Deglet Nour, also spelled Deglet Noor, is a cultivar of the Phoenix dactylifera, date palm that originated in the oasis of Tolga, Algeria, Tolga in Algeria.Pierre Munier, ''Le palmier-dattier'', éd. Maisonneuve et Larose, Paris, 1973, Commonl ...

date variety. The dough is then rolled and cut into diamond-shaped pieces. The pastry is then either fried or oven-baked. The final step involves soaking the makroudh in a sweet syrup.

References

Arabic words and phrases Libyan cuisine Tunisian cuisine Algerian cuisine Arab pastries Moroccan cuisine Cookies Fig dishes Date dishes Stuffed desserts Semolina dishes {{Algeria-cuisine-stub

Preparation

See also

References