Ancient civilizations like the Egyptians with their “ cham enissim” or Persian “and their “noruz” celebrated the return of spring with house cleaning, picnicking and the preparation of a given food typical to each culture…..
Algeria, whose history has mingled with all its neighboring mediterranean civilizations , is no exception. Even though the celebration has no official status, people of the eastern part of the country continue to celebrate the coming of spring that falls on the beginning of March according to the crop- based ,Amazigh calendar.
nowedays, the spell of the diamond shape has been broken in pastry giving birth to tens of new cookies with different shapes and forms…….
Note that Algerians traditional recipes measure the volume of ingredients and not their weight. the idea is to take any measure , be it a cup, a glass or a big container , fill it three time with the dry ingredients (semoulina in this case) and one time with fat ( butter, ghee, etc….) the choice of the measure will determine the quantity of the pastry…..if you want a small quantity, choose a small containeer, and vice-versa…….INGREDIENTS :3 measures of semoulina ( I used a coffee mug )
1 measure of ghee /clarified butter
2 pinches of salt
orange blosom water diluted in water
FILLING:: I can’t give you an exact amount since the quantity used depends on the amount of date you want to have in the cake. I personnally like to have a generous layer of date paste .
date paste, a pinch a cinnamon, and few drops of oil to knead the paste
PROCEDURE :
mix the semoulina with the melted and cooled ghee, add the pinch salt, rub it with the palm of your hands as you would do with makroud, so that the ghee gets fully incorporated by the semoulina. leave the mixture to stand for few hours.
•Gradually add the orange blossom water and the water mixture until you get nice dough , neither dry, nor too soft. let it stand for half an hour.
in the meantime, knead the date paste with cinammon and oil, if you fancy, add a spoonful of toasted sesamy seeds.
on an oiled cling film, flatten and give it a round shape
FRENCH VERSION :
c’est une specialite’ Algerienne qu’on prepare au debut de mars pour marquer la venue du printemps:
Alors il vous faut:
3 mesures de semoule
une mesure de beurre clarifie’ fondu et refroidi
2 pincees de sel
eau+eau de fleur d’oranger.
ghars(pate de datte ecrasee’) travaillee’ avec un peu de canelle et huile
preparation:
melanger la semoule,le sel,et le beurre fondu.bien travailler en frottant entre les mains.ajouter progressivement le melange eau et fleur d’oranger, jusqu’a l’obtention d’une pate maniable.deviser la en deux boules identiques.
entre temps,mettre un grand sachet ou un papier film sur la table de travail,, huiler le legerement,deposez la pate de datte dessus et l’aplatissez en formant un cercle d’environ 1,5cm de diametre.
prendre une boule de pate,l’abaissez en formant une grande galette.soulever le sachet et deposez dessus la pate de datte .
abaisser la deuxieme boule de bate et deposer la sur la pate de datte
. etaler la galette avec le rouleau a patisserie ou la paume de la main .couper la galette en bandes dans le sens de la largeur ,pour faire des losanges .
faire chauffer le tajine ou la poele , diminuer le feu .faites cuire les losanges sur les deux faces ,et degustez avec l’ben.
Bonne degustation