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Shebakia

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Shebakia
TypeDessert
Place of originOttoman Empire[1]
Region or stateMaghreb
Main ingredientsDough, honey, and orange blossom water
  •   Media: Shebakia

Shebakia (Arabic: شباكية) or chebakia, also known as griwech or griouech, is a Maghrebi sweet pastry made of strips of dough rolled to resemble a rose, deep-fried until golden, then coated with a syrup made of honey and orange blossom water and sprinkled with sesame.[2][3][4] It is typically consumed during Ramadan and religious celebrations.[2][5] Chebakia is from the Ottoman desserts culture.[6]

Chebakia is made using yeast spiced with anise, cinnamon, and saffron.[7] The dough is made from ground sesame seeds mixed with flour and maybe squeezed through a pastry tube or twisted by hand to achieve the flower-like shape.[7][8] It is then fried like a doughnut. The pastry is often produced in large batches at the start of Ramadan.[9][7] Although it is sweet and is often paired with coffee and tea, Moroccans also eat chebakia with spicy food such as harira.[7]

Griouech
A massive shebakia in Marrakesh.

Similar pastries include cartellates and fazuelos, though the latter are constructed differently, and are thinner, less dense and from different regions.

Names and origin

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Etymology

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The names of Chebbakia, and its size, shape and exact ingredient may vary by region. In Algeria[2] and in Fez, Morocco, it's known as griwech (Moroccan Arabic: ڭريوش or Algerian Arabic: قريوش). In Rabat, as mkherqa (مخرقة). In Salé, as El-qli (القلي). In Ouezzane as lahlou (الحلو), and in some other Moroccan region as kliwech (كليوش).[10][11]

History

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The origin of this pastry is likely Ottoman, due to its similarity to Eastern pastries such as baklawa in former Ottoman areas, and meshbek in Syria also known as zalabiyeh.[1][12][13][14]

In Algeria it is known as griwech and is well-known in Oran, according to some its origins date back to the city of Tiaret.[15] Griwech is mentioned among the sweets eaten in the Eid tradition during the Ottoman Algerian period.[16][17] The people would wear their finest clothes embroidered in gold and silver, after the Eid prayer relatives would visit each other and a confectionary of sweets would be offered including griwech which would be served along with coffee or sherbet.[15]

In Morocco, a folk origin story claims that chebbakia was invented by an ambulant pastry merchant, who fell in love with a beautiful girl he saw every day at her window, and decided to make honeyed pastries in the shape of her window (Arabic: شباك, shubbak), to give her as a gift.[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Akdi, Hassan; Achboun, Noureddine (2023). "Tetouan Cuisine: Artisanal Diversity, and a Multi-Faceted Mediterranean Cultural Heritage". Afro-Asian Journal of Scientific Research. 1 (2): 159. ISSN 2959-6505.
  2. ^ a b c Benayoun, Mike (1 Jul 2016). "Griouech". 196 flavors. Retrieved 13 Nov 2022.
  3. ^ Mom, LDS's (3 Sep 2018). "Algerian Crunchy Sweets- Griwech". My Excellent Degustations. Retrieved 13 Nov 2022.
  4. ^ "about.com". Archived from the original on 2017-02-08. Retrieved 2014-04-24.
  5. ^ "Moroccan Sesame and Honey Cookies With Saffron, Cinnamon and Anise". The Spruce Eats. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
  6. ^ Oktay, S. and Sadıkoglu, S., 2018. Journal of Ethnic Foods. p.6.
  7. ^ a b c d Sheen, Barbara (2011). Foods of Morocco. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Publishing LLC. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-7377-5865-8.
  8. ^ Newton, James (2012). Moroccan Cookbook - Moroc Cuisine. Springwood emedia. pp. 93–94. ISBN 978-1-4760-7547-1.
  9. ^ Lonely Planet's Ultimate Eats: The world's top 500 food experiences...ranked!. Lonely Planet Food. 2018. ISBN 978-1-78701-977-5.
  10. ^ "الشباكية". 12 June 2022. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  11. ^ Benkabbou, Nargisse (2018). Casablanca: My Moroccan Food. Octopus. ISBN 9781784725105.
  12. ^ a b "أصولها عثمانية ووصلت إلى المغرب عن طريق الجزائر.. "الشباكية"، أشهر الحلويات الرمضانية المغربية" [Its origin is Ottoman and it arrived to Morocco through Algeria]. 2023-03-16. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  13. ^ "طبق الملوك ومصارعي الأسود... أسرار الأطباق الرمضانية المغربية" [The dish of kings and lion wrestlers... the secrets of Moroccan Ramadan dishes]. Raseef22 (in Arabic). 7 April 2024. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  14. ^ "الشباكية: حلوى انصهرت أصولها الشرقية الأندلسية في المغرب" [Chebakia: A sweet whose Eastern Andalusian origins have blended into Moroccan culture.]. العمق المغربي (in Arabic). 20 April 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  15. ^ a b Besnaci, Souad, ed. (2022). Oran Al Maqam: Guide de la mémoire des gloires (PDF) (in French) (First ed.). Berlin: Democratic Arab Center for Strategic, Political and Economic Studies. p. 111. Toujours, dans la friture, la ville d'Oran est connue par un gâteau dont l'origine remonte, pour certains à Tiaret (une ville algérienne se situant au sud ouest de la capitale, donc, au sud est d'Oran). C'est Griwech.
  16. ^ Lebsir, Solaf (2024). Cultural Life in Algeria through Foreign Writings of the "Ottoman Period" (10–13 AH / 16th–19th AD Centuries): A Comparative Study (PDF) (Doctor of Third Cycle (LMD) in Modern History thesis). Ziane Achour University of Djelfa, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of History. p. 251.
  17. ^ بن حنيش, عبد الباسط; خويلدي, فارس (2022). الأغذية والأطعمة في المجتمع الجزائري خلال العهد العثماني (PDF) (مذكرة مقدمة لاستكمال متطلبات نيل شهادة الماستر في التاريخ تخصص: تاريخ المغرب العربي الحديث) (in Arabic). جامعة غرداية، كلية العلوم الاجتماعية والإنسانية، قسم التاريخ. p. 62.
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