Hisham Assaad

Hisham Assaad · Taboon

Tamriye and kallaj Ramadan are similar pastries but they are not the same. Kallaj is almost exclusively sold during Ramadan and bought fresh an hour before iftar. The pastries are stuffed with Ashta while the similar-looking tamriye are filled with Halawet el Smeed — a semolina pudding. Tamriye is one of the items sold in the shacks set in squares or next to churches during the feasts of saints. It takes skill to raise and slap the dough on the counter to spread it out as thinly as these experts do. I happened to be in Al Mrouj, a mountain village in Al Matn, during the week of the Saint Takla feast. Two shacks selling sweets were fighting for my attention when they saw me taking photos and wanted me to buy their products. I almost caused a fight between them, but I eventually tasted from both — their tamriye were excellent.

Hisham Assaad · Taboon

These fried dough rings are a speciality that Palestinians prepare on the night of Epiphany (5 January), the night where we commemorate the baptism of Christ in the River Jordan. They are lightly seasoned with anise, mahlab, and sesame and nigella seeds. We make the dough and let it rise, but before starting to fry the dough, we wrap small portions of it and place them outside on a tree that’s not a fig or mulberry. The dough portions will sit there throughout the night with a candle or a light on it in the belief that Christ passes around midnight, with trees bowing to Him, to bless the dough that people will use for the coming year. To me that sounds like a basic sourdough starter – a blessed one though. Many traditions and blessings are linked to the feast of Epiphany at the beginning of the year. My mom makes zalabye every year and we all gather to share the blessing of the holiday. The streets fill with the aromas everywhere you go and we’ve been gathering an audience every year