Mamoul

One of the things I enjoy most about living in our new state is the opportunity to experience a different ethnic menagerie of personalities and cultures. When we first moved here, we emailed our friends and family about the many locally owned Italian restaurants. In addition to the large Italian population, there is also a large Polish population as well. We enjoy taking every opportunity to meet new people and experience new culturally unique customs and today proved to be one of those opportunites.

A newly hired coworker brought cookies into the office today that his wife had made. Now, eating sweets in the office around the holidays is not unusual; however, the cookies he brought were a new experience for me. My coworker's wife is Lebanese and she made some Lebanese filled cookies known as "Mamoul." Mamoul are Middle Eastern cookies typically prepared for special holidays such as Easter or Christmas. They are made with semolina flour, scented with rose or orange flower water and are filled with walnuts, pistachios, or dates. Each cookie is formed in a specifically designed wooden mold and the mold design used indicates what filling is inside the cookie. They are very dense and taste like a mildly sweet cross between marzipan and shortbread.

I love baking so I scoured the Internet for more information on Mamoul and found a few promising recipes (click here for a recipe). I'm not sure when I will get a chance to make them myself, but I am so thankful for the opportunity to have tried this new culinary treat!

~Sarah E. Rose~