Mouna or Mona, also known as Lamona or Khobz soltani is an Algerian orange scented brioche that is indigenous to the city of

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

. It has a sweet taste enriched with oil and eggs and often contains

anise Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, ...

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 ...

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

or other citrus. The

Pieds noirs The (; ; : ) are an ethno-cultural group of people of French and other European descent who were born in Algeria during the period of French colonial rule from 1830 to 1962. Many of them departed for mainland France during and after the wa ...

, who introduced it into France in the 1960s, tend to eat it at Easter.

Etymology

The Mouna, or Mona, being similar to the Spanish

Mona de Pascua Mona may refer to: People *Mona (name), a female given name, nickname and surname * Mona (Angolan footballer) (born 1997) * Mona (Brazilian footballer), Marcelo Alexandre Pires Correia (born 1973) *Mona, ring name of American wrestler Nora Greenw ...

, led to some claims that this brioche was brought by the Valencians to Oran. Another hypothesis relates the name of the brioche to that of the fort built by the first Spanish governor, Don Diego, Marquis de Comarez, at the very place of the landing; this fort was called Castillo de la Mona (Guenon castle, which became Fort de la Moune, then Fort Lamoune), because, it is said, the entirely wooded place was inhabited by bands of monkeys (mona in Spanish). For the feast of Easter, the families would have passed cakes to the prisoners of the fort, stuck on long poles, which would have taken the name of the place. A third hypothesis suggests that Mouna was named after Fort Lamoune because the people of Oran used to go for a picnic near this it, at Easter.Henri-Léon Fey, Histoire d'Oran avant, pendant et après la domination espagnole, Typ. Adolphe Perrier, Oran, 1858, p. 76. Henri Chemouilli, for his part, relates mouna to

mimouna Mimouna (, , Berber: Mimuna, ⵎⵉⵎⵓⵏⴰ) is a traditional Maghrebi Jewish celebration dinner that takes place in Morocco, Israel, France, Canada, and other places around the world where Maghrebi Jews live. It is held the day after Passov ...

, probably from the Arabic imoun ("happy"), which is the name of the last day of the Jewish Passover. According to André Lanly, mouna comes from the Valencian mona, which derives from the Latin adjective munda in the expression munda annona, which designated luxury bread in the Roman army. In popular Algerian language, mouna also refers to a blow to the cheek (to put a mouna on someone).André Lanly, Le français d'Afrique du Nord. Étude linguistique, Bordas, Paris-Montréal, 1970, p. 124-134. For Pierre Mannoni, whatever the form of the mouna, the important thing lies in the tradition of the picnic where it is eaten and that this custom, which is found everywhere in Algeria, constitutes a celebration. of spring, a "rite more pagan than Christian no doubt". He joined Joëlle Hureau for whom "to do the mouna is to sacrifice to a rite".Joëlle Hureau, La Mémoire des Pieds-Noirs, Perrin, 2002, 279 p. (ISBN 2-262-01841-3), p. 218.

Preparation

It is a leavened dough made of flour, water, milk and baker's yeast, to which oil, orange juice and zest (or orange blossom) is added. The dough is made into a ball which is brushed with egg yolk beaten with a little milk and the top of which is covered with pieces of crushed sugar. It is then placed on a large sheet metal tray, are then baked in the oven.

References

{{African cuisine Algerian cuisine Oran Pastries