Facts About Ma'amoul
Ma'amoul is an Arab filled pastry or cookie made with dates, nuts such as pistachios or walnuts and occasionally almonds, or figs.
Ma'amoul are usually made a few days before Christmas, Easter, or Eid, then stored to be served with Arabic coffee and chocolate to guests who come during the holiday. It is popular throughout the Arab world, especially in the Arabian peninsula.
They may be in the shape of balls, domed or flattened cookies. They can either be decorated by hand or be made in special wooden moulds. Ma'amoul with date fillings are often known as menenas, and are sometimes made in the form of date rolls rather than balls or cookies.
Etymology
The Arabic word Ma'amoul (Arabic: معمول) is derived from the Arabic verb Arabic: 'amala, meaning to “to do”.
Popularity
Many households keep a stock of them all year round, but they are notably consumed during religious festivals.
- Muslims eat them at night during Ramadan and on the Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha holidays,
- Arab Christians and Greeks eat them in the days before Lent, on Easter Sunday and on the feast of Epiphany. In the Christian traditions of the Mediterranean area, the cookies are marked with a cross, or shaped into circular rings (like an “O”) to symbolize the crown of Jesus.
- They are also popular among Syrian, Lebanese and Egyptian Jewish communities, where ma'amoul with nut fillings are eaten on Purim, and ma'amoul with date fillings are eaten on Rosh Hashanah and Hanukkah. The Levantine Jewish version of ma'amoul differs from the Levantine or Turkish versions by being made with pure white flour and no semolina, today this variation is eaten in Syrian and Egyptian Jewish communities in the Diaspora.
Karabij
A more elaborate version known as Karabij (Kerebiç in Turkish) is used on special occasions. For this, nut-filled ma'amoul balls are stacked in a pyramid and served with a white cream called Naatiffe made from egg whites, sugar syrup and soapwort (Saponaria officinalis). It is popular in Syria, Lebanon, and other Levantine countries.
Syria