Shebakia () or ''Chebakia'', also known as Griwech or Griouech, is a

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 ...

i pastry made of strips of dough rolled to resemble a rose, deep-fried until golden, then coated with a syrup made of

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

and orange blossom water and sprinkled with

sesame Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus '' Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for ...

. It is typically consumed during

Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

and religious celebrations. Chebakia is from the Ottoman desserts culture. Chebakia is made using yeast spiced with anise, cinnamon, and saffron. The dough is made from ground sesame seeds mixed with flour and maybe squeezed through a pastry tube or twisted by hand to achieve the flower-like shape. It is then fried like a donut. The pastry is often produced in large batches at the start of

. Although it is sweet and is often paired with coffee and tea, Moroccans also eat chebakia with spicy food such as '' harira''. Similar pastries include the Cartellate and the Fazuelos, though the latter are constructed differently, and are thinner, less dense and from different regions.

Names and origin

Etymology

The names of Chebbakia, and its size, shape and exact ingredient may vary by region. In Algeria and in Fez,

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, it's known as ''griwech'' ( or ). In

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

, as ''mkherqa'' (). In Salé, as ''El-qli'' (). In Ouezzane as ''lahlou'' (), and in some other Moroccan region as ''kliwech'' ().

History

The origin of this pastry is likely Ottoman, due to its similarity to Eastern pastries such as baklawa in former Ottoman areas, and meshbek in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

also known as zalabiyeh. In Morocco, a folk origin story claims that chebbakia was invented by an ambulant pastry merchant, who fell in love with a beautiful girl he saw every day at her window, and decided to make honeyed pastries in the shape of her window (, ''shubbak''), to give her as a gift.

References

External links

* * category:Algerian cuisine Arab cuisine Moroccan cuisine Honey dishes {{dessert-stub

Names and origin

Etymology

History

See also

References

External links