Shebakia Explained

Shebakia
Region:Maghreb
Type:Dessert
Main Ingredient:Dough, honey, and orange blossom water
Place Of Origin:Ottoman Empire[1]

Shebakia (ar|شباكية) or chebakia, also known as griwech or griouech, is a Maghrebi sweet pastry made of strips of dough rolled to resemble a rose, deep-fried until golden, then coated with a syrup made of honey and orange blossom water and sprinkled with sesame.[2] [3] [4] It is typically consumed during Ramadan and religious celebrations.[5] Chebakia is from the Ottoman desserts culture.[6]

Chebakia is made using yeast spiced with anise, cinnamon, and saffron.[7] 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.[8] It is then fried like a doughnut. The pastry is often produced in large batches at the start of Ramadan.[9] 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 cartellates and 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[2] and in Fez, Morocco, it's known as griwech (or). In Rabat, as mkherqa . In Salé, as El-qli . In Ouezzane as lahlou, and in some other Moroccan region as kliwech .[10] [11]

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 also known as zalabiyeh.[12] [13] [14]

In Algeria it is known as griwech and is well-known in Oran, according to some its origins date back to the city of Tiaret.[15] Griwech is mentioned among the sweets eaten in the Eid tradition during the Ottoman Algerian period.[16] [17] The people would wear their finest clothes embroidered in gold and silver, after the Eid prayer relatives would visit each other and a confectionary of sweets would be offered including griwech which would be served along with coffee or sherbet.

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.[12]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Akdi . Hassan . Achboun . Noureddine . Tetouan Cuisine: Artisanal Diversity, and a Multi-Faceted Mediterranean Cultural Heritage . Afro-Asian Journal of Scientific Research . 1 . 2 . 159. 2023 . 2959-6505 .
  2. Web site: Benayoun . Mike . Griouech . 196 flavors . 1 Jul 2016 . 13 Nov 2022.
  3. Web site: Mom . LDS's . Algerian Crunchy Sweets- Griwech . My Excellent Degustations . 3 Sep 2018 . 13 Nov 2022.
  4. Web site: about.com . 2014-04-24 . 2017-02-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170208121123/http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/dessertsandcookies/r/Chebakia.htm . dead .
  5. Web site: Moroccan Sesame and Honey Cookies With Saffron, Cinnamon and Anise. 2021-11-09. The Spruce Eats. en.
  6. Oktay, S. and Sadıkoglu, S., 2018. Journal of Ethnic Foods. p.6.
  7. Book: Sheen, Barbara . Foods of Morocco . Greenhaven Publishing LLC . 2011 . 978-0-7377-5865-8 . Farmington Hills, MI . 44 . en.
  8. Book: Newton, James . Moroccan Cookbook - Moroc Cuisine . Springwood emedia . 2012 . 978-1-4760-7547-1 . 93–94 . en.
  9. Book: Lonely Planet's Ultimate Eats: The world's top 500 food experiences...ranked! . Lonely Planet Food . 2018 . 978-1-78701-977-5 . en.
  10. Web site: الشباكية . 12 June 2022 . 2023-07-01.
  11. Book: Benkabbou, Nargisse . Casablanca: My Moroccan Food . Octopus . 2018 . 9781784725105 . en .
  12. Web site: أصولها عثمانية ووصلت إلى المغرب عن طريق الجزائر.. "الشباكية"، أشهر الحلويات الرمضانية المغربية . 2023-03-16 . 2023-07-01 . Its origin is Ottoman and it arrived to Morocco through Algeria.
  13. News: طبق الملوك ومصارعي الأسود... أسرار الأطباق الرمضانية المغربية . 25 November 2025 . . 7 April 2024 . ar . The dish of kings and lion wrestlers... the secrets of Moroccan Ramadan dishes.
  14. News: الشباكية: حلوى انصهرت أصولها الشرقية الأندلسية في المغرب . 25 November 2025 . العمق المغربي . 20 April 2021 . ar . Chebakia: A sweet whose Eastern Andalusian origins have blended into Moroccan culture..
  15. Book: Besnaci . Souad . Oran Al Maqam: Guide de la mémoire des gloires . Democratic Arab Center for Strategic, Political and Economic Studies . Berlin . 2022 . First . fr . 111 . Toujours, dans la friture, la ville d'Oran est connue par un gâteau dont l'origine remonte, pour certains à Tiaret (une ville algérienne se situant au sud ouest de la capitale, donc, au sud est d'Oran). C'est Griwech..
  16. Lebsir . Solaf . Cultural Life in Algeria through Foreign Writings of the "Ottoman Period" (10–13 AH / 16th–19th AD Centuries): A Comparative Study . Doctor of Third Cycle (LMD) in Modern History . Ziane Achour University of Djelfa, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of History . 2024 . 251 .
  17. بن حنيش . عبد الباسط . خويلدي . فارس . الأغذية والأطعمة في المجتمع الجزائري خلال العهد العثماني . Master . مذكرة مقدمة لاستكمال متطلبات نيل شهادة الماستر في التاريخ تخصص: تاريخ المغرب العربي الحديث . جامعة غرداية، كلية العلوم الاجتماعية والإنسانية، قسم التاريخ . 2022 . ar . 62.

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