sweet little squares

popular in all middle eastern countries, this cake is always a favourite amongst adults and children. made from fine semolina, butter and yogurt, it is doused with the typical sugar and water syrup right after baking and left to soak it up, leaving a moist wonderful treat.

depending upon the country in which it is made, or the ethnic group who is making it, these sweet little squares go by different names and sometimes contain ingredients such as shredded coconut and, in the sefardi way, ground nuts and spices. typically, each square is adorned by a single whole blanched almond or a small mound of finely ground pistachio added before serving. this version is a lebanese-type one and is made in thin squares; it goes by the name of nammoura. it can also be called basboussa, tishpishti, revani, gâteau de semoule or hrisa. one of my favourite things about this cake is that tehini (sesame) paste is used to coat the pan instead of butter which gives an amazing final flavour to the cake. of course, you can still use butter but it won't be the same.

the cake is comprised of two components — the att'ar or syrup and the cake itself. the whole cake takes a little forethought as you need to make the syrup first and let it cool to room temperature since the cake uses part of this syrup as the sweetener. once all put together, the cake rests for several hours for the syrup to be fully absorbed and the flavours to mingle.

nammoura can be made either in thick squares or thin ones. this one is thin, my personal preference. if you want them thick, then double the ingredients and follow the same directions. for this version, you'll need a 6 ½ or 7 inch pan, either square or circular. i wouldn't use an 8 inch pan as it will be too large for this amount and result in a cake which is hard and too thin. look at the dollar stores or grocery stores for disposable aluminum smaller ones if you don't have this size baking tin. if you do double the recipe, use an 8 or 9 inch pan for thick squares or the larger 9 by 12 inch pan for thin ones.

nammoura ~ gâteau de semoule
טשפשטי ~ هريسة او نمورة او بسبوسة

sweet little cake squares made from semolina, these are utterly delicious. each square is accented by a nice single almond and the taste of nutty sesame paste. the corner pieces are the best! a must for afternoon snacks or "tea", make sure you start in the morning as it needs to sit for several hours before serving. they will keep, covered, on the counter for only a day or two — if there are any remaining!

makes 16 small squares

ingredients for syrup:

1 2/3 c white sugar
3/4 c water
1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp orange flower water, opt

method:

combine sugar, water and lemon juice only and bring to boil. once the sugar is all dissolved, lower the heat to low, or enough heat to maintain bubbling.

cook the syrup for 10 minutes and remove from heat. add the orange flower water if using. the syrup should be a very thin syrup. it will thicken slightly on cooling.

once cooled, start the cake.

ingredients for cake:

1 c fine semolina
2 tbsp ground almonds, opt.
3 tbsp shredded coconut, opt.
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 heaped tsp baking powder

1/4 c butter, softened
1/2 c full fat yogurt

3 oz cooled syrup

tahini sesame paste or butter

blanched whole almonds,
enough to equal number of squares OR
3 tbsp finely ground pistachio*

method:

combine the semolina with the other dry ingredients. the ground almonds and coconut are optional but very good.

add the softened butter and cream it with the dry ingredients. add the yogurt and blend again with mixer.

add the syrup last and blend well.


you can add everything together all at once but you need a big bowl, as it gets messy when you start to blend everything together.

preheat oven to 350F.

take the tehini paste or butter and add enough to coat the pan you are using. make sure to coat the pan well with the tahini. you should be able to see it shmeared on.

place the batter in the pan and spread it evenly.

now take a knife and mark your squares by scoring. you do not want to go all the way through. this is just to mark the squares.

place a single almond in the middle of each square and press it in slightly. *if using finely ground pistachio, skip this step and see end of recipe.

bake the cake for 35 minutes @ 350F.

remove cake from oven. raise the heat to 375 F.

take a knife and cut through all the squares.

return the pan to the oven for another 20 to 25 minutes or until it's golden brown.

remove from oven and while still hot, pour the cold att'ar (syrup) over the squares.

let it sit for several hours to absorb. this is essential! don't eat before!! *if using finely ground pistachio to decorate each square, let the syrup absorb fully and just before serving place about 1/4 heaped teaspoon of it in the middle of each square.

serve with coffee or tea or whatever drink makes you happy.

enjoy!

dukkah

After a tiring day travelling with camel, Arabs would gather around a small fire roasting spices, nuts and seeds, and finally crushing them into a coarse powder. They would then take hunks of bread, dipping them first into olive oil, and then into the dukkah to satisfy their hunger. Today dukkah may be enjoyed from Egyptian street vendors.

A small paper cone is filled with dukkah and given to the customer along with strips of pita bread, which are dipped into the vendors bowl of olive oil and then into the dukkah in the traditional way. Each vendor has a unique dukkah recipe and is fiercely proud of his own combination of traditional and regional flavours.

[quote from seasoned pioneers]

the first time i had this was years ago late at night sitting around a table talking, and of course eating a latenight snack, with my schoolfriend zina & her parents who were originally from cairo. this condiment used traditionally to dip into fresh pieces of pita as noted in the above quotation, is also common in other middle eastern countries besides egypt [gulf states for example] and is popular with [egyptian] middle eastern jews. Fayza Hassan wrote a short newspaper article in al-ahram about duqqa and her memories associated with it.

duqqa can be spelled in a variety of ways and can have different grinds, from quite coarse to very fine. you will see it as dooka, dookah, douka, doukah, dukkah, etc. i have also found it called du'a. whatever way you spell it, it's all basically the same with minor variations on the same theme. what is common to this mix is the use of nuts & spices and an herb of some sort.

chef and author magda el-mehdawy wrote a book called my egyptian grandmother's kitchen which became a best seller in egypt. the epicurious.com site has an article about her and she gives magda's recipe for her version of duqqa which uses small chickpeas [channa [desi] dal] & za'atar. read about the author and see some of her other recipes.

dukkah is also popular in australia. my adventurous & intrepid friends brought back a package on their last trip and talked about its popularity there. the ingredients are a bit different and sound like they would be incredibly good together. check out how popular it is with all these variations, if you don't believe me.

here are various ideas for using duqqa and if you don't want to make it yourself, buying it from the hotchick spice company.

from the food network here in canada, this is a alternative version using turmeric & almonds or this one using macadamias, sunflower seeds & coconut.

i also found a recipe for duqqa croutons here. they could even be cut up into small crouton cubes and used in a salad.

whether you use it to adorn your pita, garnish your hoummus or sprinkle it atop grilled fish, it is something not to be missed. give it a try.

read a fun article about ancient egyptian bread-making where sand ultimately became part of the recipe.