Recettes

Tcharek M’saker

Tcharek M'saker are elegant crescent-shaped Algerian cookies made from ground almonds, sugar, orange blossom water, and egg, formed into half-moon shapes and baked until golden, then dusted generously with icing sugar while still warm. They are delicate, intensely almond-flavoured, and represent the refined sweet-making tradition of Algerian confectionery. The cookies appear at every Algerian celebration from Eid to weddings, arranged in neat rows on serving plates alongside tea. Their simplicity is deceptive, producing a product of considerable elegance from very few ingredients. The orange blossom water is essential, its floral perfume being the note that elevates them into something distinctly North African.

★★★★★Les mieux notées

MediumPan-African

Recette de Blessing · Africook

Ka'ak (Libyan Ring Bread)

Ka'ak is a ring-shaped bread, crisp outside and soft within, scattered with sesame seeds. It is Libyan in this version, and made across a wide stretch of the Arabic-speaking world, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria all have their own. The shape is what defines it. Ka'ak is formed into a large ring, bigger and thinner than a bagel, which is why street vendors across the region can carry stacks of them on a pole or a cart. In Libya it is eaten at breakfast alongside hummus and falafel, and it comes in savoury and sweet versions. The name travels further than the shape does. Ka'ak, sometimes kahk or kahqa, covers a whole family of baked goods across the Arabic-speaking world, from this ring bread to the small filled Egyptian cookies eaten at Eid, which are a completely different thing. The word means something closer to "baked good" than to any specific item. One technique in this recipe is worth borrowing for other breads. A tray of water is placed in the bottom of the oven while it heats, so the loaves bake in a steamy environment. Steam keeps the crust soft for the first minutes, letting the bread rise fully before the surface sets, and then produces a thin, crisp finish.

2 hr 45 minMediumLibya

Recette de Blessing · Africook