Kleicha
Kleicha (Arabic: كليچة; Syriac: ܟܠܝܟ̰ܐ;[2] Turkish: kiliçe) is a type of Middle Eastern cookie. It is sometimes considered to be the national cookie of Iraq.[3]
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| Type | Cookie |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Sumer-Babylonia, Mesopotamia[1] |
| Region or state | Iraq, Saudi Arabia |
| Serving temperature | Hot or cold |
| Main ingredients | Dough, nuts, dates, and sesame seeds |
Kleicha comes in several traditional shapes and fillings. The most popular are the ones filled with dates (kleichat tamur). There are also sweet discs (khfefiyyat), as well as half moons filled with nuts, sugar and/or desiccated coconut (kleichat joz). They are usually flavoured with cardamom and sometimes rose water, and glazed with egg wash, which may sometimes be scented and coloured with saffron.[4]
Saudi Arabia and Iraq people make kleicha for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha and also for their celebrations, weddings or special ceremonies and they are stuffed with many different fillings like dates, pistachios, walnuts, coconuts, dried figs, sesame seeds or Turkish delight.
Assyrians bake kilecheh on Eeda Gura, Easter, and Eeda Sura, Christmas, on which they are usually stuffed with dates and served with tea.[5]
Etymology
From Middle Persian [Book Pahlavi needed] (kwlʾck' /kulāčag/, “small, round bun”)[6]
References
- Nasrallah, Nawal. "The Iraqi Cookie, Kleicha, and the Search for Identity".
- Rink, Friedrich Theodor; Vater, Johann Severin (1802). Arabisches Sprisches und Chaldäisches Lesebuch: #b das arabische grösstentheils nach bisher ungedruckten Stücken mit Verweisungen auf die Grammatik und mit erklärenden Wortregistern herausgegeben (in German). Siegfried Lebrecht Crusius. p. 35.
- "How to make sweet date cookies from Iraq". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "Delights from the Garden of Eden: An Iraqi Cookbook". Archived from the original on 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2007-12-15.
- "Assyrian Voice Library - Kileche". Archived from the original on 2013-06-29. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
- Mackenzie, D. N. (2014). A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary. p. 52. doi:10.4324/9780203462515. ISBN 9781136613968.