"ANY MEAL WITHOUT A TRADITIONAL DESSERT LOSES THE WHOLE MEANING." THERE ARE LOCAL RESIDENTS IN EMIRATES THOSE WHO DON'T JUST BE ABLE TO LIVE WITH TASTE, BUT AND WELL UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING OF THE EASIES OF EASTERN DRUGS. We decided to tell you about them.
My acquaintance with Arabian desserts was not easy. At first, I long and hard avoided them because of the too sweet, almost cloying taste. So far, the month of Ramadan has arrived. During one of the iftars - a generous evening conversation - we were treated to the freshest, just baked and still hot sweet balls of dough with saffron called Lukaymat (Luqaimat). Their taste was so delicate and refined that it instantly dispelled all my previous doubts - I was subdued. It is not for nothing that my colleague from the Arab edition spent almost an hour without leaving Iftar to wait only for them. “Without this dessert, the day will be spent in vain,” he told me, going for the next batch.
Later I learned how difficult it is to bake Arabian sweets, what skills and knowledge you need to have in order for the dessert to get the right consistency, with a delicate taste and an unmistakable ratio of milk, butter and sugar. One wrong move or the wrong ingredient - and the dessert is ruined.
I asked the Arab chef Fadi Kulkush, one of the best confectioners in Dubai and a true connoisseur of cooking Arabian desserts, to tell about all the nuances of cooking oriental sweets. Fadi began studying the basics of the “sweet” business as early as 13 years old in his native Syria, until fate brought him to Dubai ten years ago, where he first worked as a chef at the Park Hyatt hotel, and currently runs Arabic cuisine in a prestigious hotel in the center City of Conrad Dubai.
“All traditional Arabian desserts came to the Emirates from Turkey,” Fadi immediately explained to me. “Here they transformed a little and acquired a local flavor. Their ancient sweetness in ancient times was intended to warm the body during cold weather, because in Turkey in winter, especially in the mountains, it was very cold. And carbohydrates in the form of sugar instantly gave the body heat. "
Now, however, in the Emirates, many traditional desserts are specially made less sweet and high-calorie, to please as many residents and tourists as possible. There are also several varieties of the same dishes. For example, the kunafe dessert (kunafe, knafeh) - the king of Arabian sweets - can be prepared with both soft cheese inside and hard cheese. At the same time, according to Fadi, for the proper preparation of kunafe, you need to take a special Nabulsi cheese from sheep’s milk, otherwise the dessert will lose all its sophistication. “Kunaf can be tasted in many places in Dubai, including the Arabesq cafeteria shop in The Dubai Mall, but don’t think that they cook it there. In the shop it’s just heated for a couple, the dessert itself is baked in a special factory. The best place, where you can try kunafeh - the Firas Sweets restaurant in Dubai and small restaurants in Sharjah. They bake it with you from the right pastry and with the freshest cheese. For me, even a small change in taste can ruin all the fun. Nuances are important in this matter! "
Another interesting dessert is Umm Ali - the famous pudding with a delicate creamy taste, with a caramel-colored crust and toasted nuts. The Germans, trying it, claim that it is strudel without apples, the British call it "bread pudding without bread," and the Swiss joke that it is fondue without cheese ... But in order to understand it, you need to try at least once. There are many legends about him, but Fadi assured me that the true story of how dessert got its name is as follows. Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl named Umm Ali. She was a slave to the evil and treacherous queen. For her treachery, God sent a fly to her, which crawled through her nose into the brain and prevented her from sleeping at night. To fall asleep, the slaves had to hit her head with her shoe every night. Every evening, the unfortunate performed this ritual, until one day they accidentally killed the queen. Umm Ali was so delighted with her freedom that she baked for everyone a treat from what she was rich in: bread, nuts, milk and sugar. And so the dessert turned out, which now looks like a crispy air mixture covered with grated almonds, coconut and hazelnuts, baked in the oven for 10 minutes.
By the way, the dessert Lukaimat (Luqaimat) - those same unique balls sprinkled with honey or date syrup - was also created from the simplest and most affordable ingredients that Emirates were rich in during nomadism: milk, cream and dates. Actually, his whole secret is in unsweetened dough, with the floor inside. Saffron for golden crust is added to it, and the finished treat is poured with sugar syrup. Moreover, in the Emirates, the balls are twisted manually (therefore, you will never find them of the same shape), while, for example, in Syria and Turkey they are cut and thrown with a special spoon directly into a deep frying pan, which makes the cooking process look like a circus trick.
Another delicacy - Arabian ice cream - also has its own peculiarity in the Emirates. Firstly, when preparing it, egg yolks are not used, as is customary in the West. And secondly, a rather complicated system of filtering milk and creamy foam formed during its boiling is used here. If European ice cream is obtained by brewing cream, then in the East milk is cooled for a long time and then slowly pressed to obtain a homogeneous milk mixture. Ice cream is thick, tasty, but not so sweet. And for sweets on top of it, it is often decorated with thin brushwood of halva, which is thinned in a special machine to millimeter strips. It turns out both tasty and healthy. Top all sprinkled with pistachios. “By the way, I’ll tell you one secret that few people know about,” Fadi shared with me, “if you see green pistachios on the dessert, then they are fresh. If the pistachios for a long time were lying on the display window under the lamp, they acquire a yellowish tint, so you better pay attention to something else. "
And yet, to my question, what would Fadi cook for his friends for dessert, he immediately answered - mamul (ma'amoul). This round or oval-shaped cookie stuffed with dates, nuts, pistachios or figs is usually prepared for the holidays for friends or relatives. Dessert is especially popular during Ramadan, but experts, as it turned out, prefer to pamper themselves at any time of the year.
Kunafe or knafe (kunafe, knafeh)
It is made from homemade goat or sheep’s cheese and is framed by layers of thin dough from semolina, like sweet vermicelli. You can also use Palestinian Nabulsi cheese, which is sold in the store specifically for this dessert. To cook kunafe according to the original recipe, you need to simmer cheese for a long time on low heat. From above, everything is poured with a thick syrup consisting of water, sugar and a few drops of rose water. And don't forget to add the pistachios!
Mom (ma'amoul)
This cookie, which is usually baked on holidays, came to the Emirates from Lebanon. Tender and crumbly dough can only be made from flour with the addition of semolina. The filling can be dates or date paste, nuts, figs, dried fruits or a mixture of everything. Mommy is very well stored - ready-made cookies can even be frozen and removed as needed.
Baklava (baklava)
Cookies are made from dough filled with nuts and soaked in honey syrup. It is prepared from sheets with a thickness of thin paper, which are smeared with oil and laid out in layers in a rectangular baking dish or curled into cylinders. Ground and finely chopped walnuts or pistachios are laid out between the layers of dough, which are previously baked and soaked in a solution of sugar and lemon juice with spices and pink water. Like any other meal, baklava has regional recipes.
Lukeimat (luqaimat, awamat, loukoumades, luqmat)
The dessert is small unsweetened dumplings made of butter, milk and flour, abundantly drenched with honey on top. In the Gulf countries, this dessert is eaten with cold drinks.
Umm Ali
The treat was born in Egypt and resembles a sweet bread pudding. Translated into Russian, the name means "Mom Ali." It is prepared from biscuit dough and soaked in fruit syrup mixed with nuts and raisins. It is considered the least sweet of all desserts.
Kataef (qatayef)
The dish is especially popular during Ramadan. It is prepared like pancakes, but the filling is wrapped inside either from nuts or from sweet cottage cheese or cream. Then the dessert is either fried in oil or sent to the oven. Before serving, the treat can be sprinkled with rose water sugar syrup.
