 | |
| Alternative names | Barazik[1] |
|---|---|
| Type | cookie |
| Place of origin | Levant |
| Region or state | Al-Midan,Damascus,Syria[2] |
| Main ingredients | flour,butter,icing sugar,egg yolk,sesame |
Barazek orbarazeq (Arabic:برازق,romanized: barāzeq) is a Levantine cookie whose main ingredient issesame (Arabic:سمسم,romanized: sumsum) and often also contain pieces ofpistachio.[3] It probably originated duringOttoman rule[4] in the Syrian capital,Damascus, particularly in theAl-Midan neighborhood,[2] although today it is so popular that it can be found in most pastry shops throughout theLevantine area (Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Syria) and the broaderArab world.[5][6] It is also one of the more traditional Palestinian desserts and it is easy to find stalls selling barazek on the streets ofJerusalem.[7]
19th centuryOrientalistReinhart Dozy describedbarāziq as a wheat bread topped with eitherdibs (syrup) or butter and sesame in his 1881 dictionarySupplément aux dictionnaires arabes.[8][9] Barazeq was later described in an 1891 text by theInternational Congress of Orientalists as a cake, 20-30cm in diameter, baked in butter, either covered with sesame on one side, or plain (سادة).[8] In 1898, OrientalistsAlbert Socin andImmanuel Benzinger [de] also described thinbarazik coated with grape-syrup, butter, and sesame being sold in Damascus as a "finer kind of bread".[10]
In his bookDictionary of Damascene Industries, Syrian authorZafir al-Qasimi [ar] wrote aboutbarāziqī; a profession referring to sellers ofbaraziq. He describedbaraziq made from yeasted, sweetened dough shaped into small or large sesame-coated disks, and noted that their sale was especially common during Ramadan, and observed that some vendors produced cheaper, lower-qualitybaraziq using fat or sesame oil (شيرج) in place ofsamneh.[11]
Syrian historianKhayr al-Din al-Asadi described barazeq as "thin flatbreads covered in sesame" in his 1981 book Comparative Encyclopedia of Aleppo.[12]
The barazeq made in theOld City of Jerusalem are, unlike the cookie shaped barazeq found elsewhere, large, very thin and flat, and made in wood fired ovens. They are most popular during Ramadan.[13][14][15]
Barazeq is traditionally made from flour,clarified butter (samneh), sugar, sesame, pistachios, and yeast.[16] Besides nuts and seeds, traditional toppings includedibs (fruit syrup) orqatir.[16]
It has a sweet, buttery and nutty flavor, and a crisp and brittle texture.[citation needed]
