Pumpkins in sweets in the middle east

[FoodMan]

I have been mulling this subject for a while now. In my family’s home and in northern Lebanon in general we never used pumpkins, called “laktin” or “Arih” in Arabic, (the large orange ones) much. I’ve certainly never had them in any savory dishes. They were always an object of curiosity to me and my friends, except when used in sweets. This brings me to the subject of this thread, and specifically the two preparations in which pumpkins are used and I am familiar with.

1- Murraba el Arih, literally translates to “Pumpkin Jam” or “Pumpkin Preserve” is my favorite. This is very different than what you would expect a preserve to be. It is not jammy or mushy. Instead the product is made of large chunks of pumpkin that are semi-dry on the surface, or they can be kept in their syrup. The best part is the texture. When you bite into one of these chunks, it is surprisingly crunchy. The texture is similar to a very ripe watermelon. Until you get to the core that is. The core of each chunk it soft and gooey as if it is filled with pumpkin jam. The best version of this concoction is made by our neighbor in my hometown in northern Lebanon. She made it almost every week during the pumpkin season and being best friends with her son I always got a Tupperware full of the stuff. Of course I never thought of sitting with her and seeing how she does it back then.

2- Jazarieh, means something like “made with carrots” and until recently I thought it was! But I guess the name refers to the color of the jam. This one is more of a candied preserve made with shredded pumpkin and has almonds pistachios and walnuts mixed in after it is made. This preparation is more widely available at middle eastern sweet shops and I buy mine from the best sweet shop in the middle east in my opinion when I am in Lebanon.

I have tried making both at home. I failed miserably at the first one. With the second preparation I’ve had moderate success. The jar I have in my fridge now is pretty damn good but I think I need to up the sugar content to double the weight of the pumpkin (I use butternut squash actually) to get more of a candied (glace) texture.

The problem with making the first preparation is that it always turns mushy on me and never gets anywhere near the right texture. Calls to my grandmother revealed that she is not sure exactly how to make it but knows that in addition to sugar, “kiliss” is added to the mix to preserve texture. Now, as far as I know “Kiliss” means Calcium. How on earth it is used I am not sure. Chef Ramzi in his book uses “Kiliss” for making Jazarieh as well, but has no recipe for the first one.

Any ideas? Has anyone ever tried either one of these two? Especially the first one?

How else are they used in sweets?

[Swisskaese]

I have had M'hanncha with pumpkin instead of almond paste. M'hanncha is phyllo pastry or warka leaves that is filled with almond paste or in this case pumpkin, and rolled up like a snake.

We also have pumpkin jam here and we have pumpkin marmalade, which is similar to real jam and can be spread on bread.

Edited April 11, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[Nicolai]

The way to use Kiliss is at the very end of the process in order to dehydrate the Ara'a chunks.

Some people do it at both ends as well.

So you proceed in creating your jam chunks any which way you like but as you know you have to follow set rules when heating/cooking with sugar. Once your jam with the Ara'a chunks is done. You remove the chunks and spread on a non-reactant surface and place Kiliss at the bottom and seal the whole contraption until the moisture has been absorbed by the Kiliss. This depends on the quantity of Ara'a and Kiliss and V V.

Once the Chunks are dry and crunchy to your liking, you replace in the jam sirup.

The reason why the Chunks are as you say "The best part is the texture. When you bite into one of these chunks, it is surprisingly crunchy. The texture is similar to a very ripe watermelon. Until you get to the core that is. The core of each chunk it soft and gooey as if it is filled with pumpkin jam". This is precisely the degree of dehydration with the Kiliss as the surface is dry but did not reach the core of the fruit chunk.

Happy eating.

[SuzySushi]

Both of these sweets sound really yummy! Can't help you with the recipes, though.

If Turkey is considered part of the Middle East, years ago I ate a dessert of candied butternut squash at Anatolia, a Turkish restaurant in NYC. I wheedled out the recipe from them, adjusted it for home quantities, and it's basically this:

Anatolia's Candied Butternut Squash

Serves 8

2 medium butternut squash

sugar

1 cup water

juice of 1 lemon

8 whole cloves

Slice squash in 1" thick rings. Peel and seed. Arrange in a single layer in a baking dish. Sprinkle with a layer of sugar. Pour water, lemon juice, and cloves over the squash. Cover dish with foil. Bake 40 minutes at 400F, until squash is tender. Serve at room temperature.

I recall making it several times years ago and it came out well. More recently, I made it substituting kabocha squash, and it was too mushy; I probably should have baked it for a shorter time and/or used less water.

[FoodMan]

The way to use Kiliss is at the very end of the process in order to dehydrate the Ara'a chunks.

Some people do it at both ends as well.

So you proceed in creating your jam chunks any which way you like but as you know you have to follow set rules when heating/cooking with sugar. Once your jam with the Ara'a chunks is done. You remove the chunks and spread on a non-reactant surface and place Kiliss at the bottom and seal the whole contraption until the moisture has been absorbed by the Kiliss. This depends on the quantity of Ara'a and Kiliss and V V.

Once the Chunks are dry and crunchy to your liking, you replace in the jam sirup.

The reason why the Chunks are as you say "The best part is the texture. When you bite into one of these chunks, it is surprisingly crunchy. The texture is similar to a very ripe watermelon. Until you get to the core that is. The core of each chunk it soft and gooey as if it is filled with pumpkin jam". This is precisely the degree of dehydration with the Kiliss as the surface is dry but did not reach the core of the fruit chunk.

Happy eating.

←

Nicolai,

Am I correct in assuming Kiliss to be "calcium" in English? If so, then how do you buy it? I am trying to figure out how to get my hands on some in the US.

Thanks for the helpful info.

[anzu]

It is calcium hydroxide, also known as pickling lime. There is a bit of a discussion of it in this thread.

Some Indian groceries stock it (it is used in making a sweet called petha, made from ash gourd/winter melon, which also has the texture you describe). Indian stores which stock the supplies for pan/betel nut should also carry it. The Hindi name for this lime is chuna.

Some Chinese groceries also stock it, often on the same shelf as things that you really do not want to ingest. The ones I have seen are labelled only in Chinese. Due to this, if buying it at a Chinese grocery I would only get it at a place where I trust them very much and where I am sure that they can tell me I'm buying the right thing. I believe you can also buy it online.

Here is an Indian recipe for petha, which gives you some idea of the time and process for making the Indian equivalent. Other searches for 'petha' will also give you recipes with a very short soaking time in the lime (just a couple of hours). Personally, though I haven't made it, I feel that this shorter time will probably give a less desirable result - not crunchy enough.

Petha is one of my favorite sweets. So murraba el arih sounds wonderful to me.

[Nicolai]

If you want to use kiliss at the top end instead of bottom end then you need to soak the Ara'a in Pickling Lime (few hours) and wash thoroughly.

What you will be doing is adding Calcium to the Ara'a and make it more firm.

So you can try either methods and see which one work best.

[FoodMan]

Thanks again all! SO it is basically pickling lime? I should have no problem finding this here in Hispanic markets as well. So the procedure should basically be:

1- Soak the pumpkin in pickling lime water for a day or so

2- remove and wash

3- Follow normal canying procedures like one would do for candying citrus rinds and other fruit. That is simmer gently in a heavy sugar syrup, let cool. Simmer again, let cool...until you read desired consistency.

[Nicolai]

Yeahhh, you got it.

Two things:

1- You can check consistency as you go and decide when to remove.

2- Wash and rinse thoroughly.

3- When do we get a tasting?

[FoodMan]

3- When do we get a tasting?

←

As soon as I have a properly made batch that is not mush..unfortunatly pumpkin season is over, so it might be a while

[Pumpkin Lover]

Ohhhh, man. I'm going to be manning this forum to check up on your progress, FoodMan.

I have a very vested interest in this thread.

[sazji]

Here as far as I know they use quicklime, which used to be used for wall plaster as well. The lime is added to the water (stand back and be careful) and allowed to "burn out," (read: boil violently) then it settles out. The water is added to the soaking water for the pumpkin (it's also used in other preserves such as green walnut - though I prefer them without it - and tomatoes). After soaking the squash must be washed in several changes of water. In Turkish it's known as kireç (kee-retch). This way of preparing pumpkin is more common in (surprise!)the E. Mediterranean region.

Another (perhaps better known) popular way of doing pumpkin sweet here is to cut the pumpkin into chunks, and fitting them tightly into a wide pan. You can do two layers if there is not too much space between the pieces. They are then covered with sugar and allowed to stand for several hours overnight. In the morning the liquid will have been drawn out of the pumpkin, which with the sugar will form a syrup with no need to add any water. Add a clove or a cinnamon stick to the syrup if you like, and bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer till the pumpkin is uniformly cooked. It will keep its shape fairly well, it won't be mushy. After it cools, you can serve it in many ways. The most popular are 1) topped with chopped walnuts, 2) topped with kaymak (clotted cream), and 3) topped with tahini and pekmez (grape molasses) and ground walnuts as well. As if the syrup didn't give it enough sweetness. But with a strong glass of unsweetened tea it goes down pretty good!

Edited to add a note about cezeriye/jezeriyah - here it is made with carrots, but mostly from the very dark type, colored like a beet. The carrots are cooked till mushy, pureed, sweetened and cooked into a thick paste. sometimes with the addition of walnuts or pistachios. Then it's cut in squares and rolled in grated coconut. It's divine. And supposed to be aphrodesiac, but so are so many other things here...

Edited April 13, 2006 by sazji (log)

[FoodMan]

sazji- that second way for preparing pumpkin is in Paula Wolfert's book and she tops it with walnuts and clotted cream as well. I tried it once and it really is an excellent dish.

Your description of jazarieh sounds great as well, it sure is very different than the one I am familiar with though.

[delhigirl]

i'm reading and reading this thread and it all sounds so delicious and familiar and it's days later i remember why!

ive had murabba in India. it's actually pretty popular in the winters, at least in the north. You can get amla (gooseberries), red winter carrots in big glass jars...they're "pickled" in a thick syrup and retain their shape and color and are very crunchy. it's great for people like me who love sweet stuff, but i've seen others with less fortitude and a smaller sweet tooth wince on biting into one of these preserves.

petha i think, is considered a sweet not a preserve in india. This is only my impression though, and I don't really remember why, so feel free to tell me this is not so!