The Syrian Arab Republic is a state in the Middle East, in Western Asia that hosts various ethnic and religious groups: Arabs are the largest ethnic group and Sunnis the largest religious group.
The modern Syrian state was founded in the mid-20th century after being part of the Ottoman Empire for centuries and a brief period under a French mandate.
The post-independence period was tumultuous, with many military coups and coup attempts.
Syria and the ruling party have been condemned for human rights violations, frequent executions of citizens and political prisoners, and massive censorship.
In 2011, popular uprisings broke out in the context of the Arab Spring, which then degenerated into a civil war, still ongoing, between government and rebel forces.
Syrian cuisine is one of the oldest traditions in the world, with heritage from the Ottoman domination and French colonialism.
Savory and refined, it is a cuisine that is mainly based on lamb and mutton, nuts, legumes, rice, bread, and spices.
In Syrian cuisine, simple and fresh ingredients are used, respecting the rules established by the Quran.
In the Middle East, a common conclusion to a meal is a tray of fruit, usually presented with crushed ice, but also with dessert.
Aleppo, for example, is especially famous for its desserts that have original shapes and emit a delicate scent of roses or orange blossoms like Atayef (or Qatayef, or Katayef), similar to pancakes, fried or baked, folded and filled with cream or hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, raisins, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and cinnamon cooked only on one side, filled and folded, then immersed in a fragrant syrup.
They are usually consumed during Ramadan, after eftar, the meal that breaks the fast after sunset, or in the suhur, the meal before starting the fast at dawn.
Find more recipes dedicated to Carnival in the blog collection “Carnival Desserts“.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 45 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 10 pieces
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Frying
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
- Seasonality: Eid al-Fitr, All seasons
Ingredients for the dough:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/2 tablespoon dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 1/4 cup warm water
- to taste salt
- 7 oz nuts (hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, raisins)
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- to taste ground cinnamon
- to taste vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 oz orange blossom water (or rose water)
- as needed vegetable oil or butter
Preparation
The dough:
Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, water, and salt. Add the yeast and sugar water mixture. Cover and let rise in a warm area for 30-45 minutes.
The filling:
Crumble the nuts and mix them with cinnamon, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar.
Preheat a griddle or a pan over medium-high heat. Using a ladle, make a pancake with the batter. Once the batter starts to bubble on top, remove the pancake from the griddle and set aside – cook only on one side-
Once all the batter is done, let them cool for just a couple of minutes and take each atayef and with your fingers press the edge until it sticks, leaving an opening on top to fill, fill and close.
You can use two cooking methods, the first is frying and the second is baking:
For frying heat a generous amount of vegetable oil in a deep pan and immerse the pieces, turning them for a few minutes until they become darker and crispy.
For baking, grease a baking tray with butter or margarine and lay each atayef also greased with some butter, separated from each other. Bake in the oven at 392°F (200°C) for 5 minutes.
The syrup:
Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a saucepan until the mixture becomes clear, then add the lemon juice and, with the heat off, the rose or orange blossom water.
Dip the atayef in the syrup.
Remember: either the atayef is hot and the syrup cold, or the syrup hot and the atayef cold
They can also be a great dessert for Carnival due to their similarity to our traditional fried Ravioli …
Variants:
Another way to serve atayef is to fill it with whipped cream or qishta (قشطة) – called ashta in the Levant (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan) – and pistachios, fold it only halfway and serve it with scented syrup without frying or baking.
This variant of the dessert is called assafiri qatayef (قطايف عصافيري). They are usually smaller in size and have a soft exterior, served without cooking or frying.
See photo of the one tasted at the Lebanese restaurant “Cedro del Libano” in Savona:
See photo of the one tasted at the Lebanese restaurant “Cedro del Libano” in Savona:
See photo of the one tasted at the Lebanese restaurant “Cedro del Libano” in Savona:
If the orange blossom extract for creating the syrup to dip the atayef in is easy to find even at the supermarket, rose water for desserts is more easily found online.
