Luxor, Egypt
Rating:
A cooking demonstration of Egyptian donuts (Zalabia)! Apparently, zalabia are a
Mideast phenomenom-- the identical pastries are also made and served in Syria,
Lebanon, Yemen, etc., and in Morocco (with the accent on the 3rd
syllable). The proper Egyptian
pronunciation places the accent on the 2nd syllable. Speaking of accents, Arabic is spoken
throughout the Arabian peninsula and in many areas of the Mideast. Each country, with Egypt being no exception,
has its own dialect. But, we digress.
The chef, Hamdy, and his abled-bodied assistant, Karim, started off by
giving us some history. Zalabia have
been prepared and served as sweet treats (on Fridays to usher in the day of
rest) for the past 400 – 500 years.
Next, the chefs handed out recipes.
The batter is simple enough—sugar, milk, yeast, flour salt, corn oil,
and corn starch (Hamdy explains corn starch makes them crunchy on the
outside).
Once the ingredients are mixed together, they are left to rise for two hours. Then, they are spooned by teaspoonfuls into hot oil.
When done, the Zalabia are dipped into cinnamon or powdered sugar or a sugar
syrup (honey could substitute) and eaten—immediately. They were delicious! Donut holes with a crunch but much
lighter. Hamdy and Karim served each of
us 3 of these tasty treats—but some of us consumed many more than that! They were scrumptious!!!! Several of us had the opportunity to try our
hand at spooning the batter into the hot oil.
Let's just say it was harder than it looked! What a fun way to spend part of the afternoon
on Christmas Eve.
Our wonderful guide Ossama
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