Shekarbureh (. Azeri şəkərbura) is a sweet pastry, dating back to at least the Sassanid era. Originally, it was like a

halva Halva (also halvah, halwa, and other spellings, Persian : حلوا) is a type of confectionery originating from Persia and widely spread throughout the Middle East. The name is used for a broad variety of recipes, generally a thick paste made f ...

made from sugar and almonds. Its alternate names in Persian include ''Shekarborak'', ''Shekarbora'', ''Shekarpareh'' and ''Shekarpirah''. In its different variations, the dessert is also common in Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey.

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In Anatolia this pastry is called

Şekerpare Şekerpare is one of the popular desserts in the Turkish cuisine. Mainly prepared by baking some soft balls of almond based pastry dipped in thick lemon-flavored sugar syrup, şekerpare is pronounced “''sheh-kehr-PAH-reh''” in Turkish. Refer ...

in Turkish and is one of the popular desserts in the Turkish cuisine. Mainly prepared by baking some soft balls of almond based pastry dipped in thick lemon-flavored sugar syrup, şekerpare is pronounced “''sheh-kehr-PAH-rih''” in Turkish. Şəkərbura Novruz şirniyyatı

In the Republic of Azerbaijan it is called ''şəkərbura'' and is used as a dessert. It is a sweet pastry in half-moon shape, filled with ground

almonds The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of th ...

, hazelnuts, or walnuts, and sugar. Shekerbura, '' shorgoghal'', and '' pakhlava'' are the iconic foods of Novruz holiday in Azerbaijan. In Azerbaijan, it usually involves teamwork of relatives, friends and neighbors who congregate at someone's home to make this Nowruz delight. Like other pastries prepared for Nowruz, shekerbura also has a symbolic meaning which denotes the half-moon or flame of fire.

Name and meaning

The name for this crescent-shaped pastry comes from Persian ''shekar bureh'' شکربوره. ''Shekar'' means

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

in Persian and ''Bureh'' is a word that goes back to the Middle Persian *Bōrak. This word ultimately goes back to the Proto-Indo-European roo
*bher-
which meant "to carve, cut, split,". Turkic languages have borrowed this word from Persian. The name of another pastry, Borak ( Börek) is also borrowed from the same Persian word.

Preparation

The dough is made of wheat flour, butter, milk, egg yolks, cream, and yeast. The filling is prepared from peeled almond or fried nuts mixed with sugar powder. It also includes cardamom to flavor the pastry. The dough is rolled and cut into small round shapes, then filled with stuffing and closed up by making a pattern of stitches. The stitching pattern on the dough is produced using traditional tweezers called .

References

{{Cuisine of Azerbaijan Iranian desserts Turkish desserts Azerbaijani desserts Nut dishes

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Name and meaning

Preparation

See also

References