Basbousa

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Basbousa (Arabic: ???????), is a traditional Middle Eastern sweet cake. It is made from cooked semolina or farina soaked in simple syrup; coconut is also a popular option to add into this pastry. Orange flower water or rose water is also an optional addition to the simple syrup used in the basbousa.

Video Basbousa

Names

Basbousa has many regional and dialect names (Arabic: ?????? basb?sah, ????? har?sa, and nammoura (in Lebanon), Armenian: ?????? shamali, Turkish: revani or ravani (from Persian), French: gabelouze, kalbelouz, and qualb-el-louz (in Tunisian French), Greek: ?????? and ??????).

It is found in the cuisines of the Middle East, the Balkans and the Horn of Africa under a variety of names. In southern Greece, it is called ravani, while in the north, it is called revani. Basbousa is often called "hareesa" in Jordan, the Maghreb, and the Egyptian city of Alexandria. Basbousa is a particularly popular dessert among the Egyptian Coptic Christians for fasts, such as Great Lent and the Nativity Fast as it can be made vegan.

In Israel, a variety of the dish flavoured with yogurt, honey and spices is popular in Shavuot

Maps Basbousa

Past?sha

Past?sha (sometimes stylized as Past?çha) is a variant of basbousa that originated in Kuwait in the 2010s. Like basbousa, it is made from semolina soaked in sweet syrup. It is characterized by the addition of finely ground pistachios and orange flower water.