Listomania
16 Sweets And Snacks We Usually Find At Teta’s House
Remember my post about the 25 Most Delicious Middle Eastern Desserts? If you didn’t read it, check it out here.
We all love our seemingly endless list of traditional desserts, but I believe it goes without saying that we love our Tetas (Arabic for “grandmothers”) even more. Tetas around Lebanon (and the entire Middle East for that matter) have been continuously accused of one crime: Over-feeding us every time we visit.
Teta also always has different kinds of dessert stocked up in every nook and cranny of her house.
Let’s see what she has in store for us:
1. Homemade Biscuit au Chocolat (Lazy Cake)
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Mmm… the easiest, simplest, and definitely most delicious dessert recipe there is; hence the term “lazy”.
2. Custard
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Either with a chocolate layer or plain and simple with a single biscuit; I don’t know about you, but I never liked that over-soaked biscuit!
3. Jello
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This is an even lazier recipe than lazy cake. Jello powder, 1 cup hot water, 1 cup cold water. Done. It’s sometimes mixed with sliced bananas or strawberries – a trick to get us to eat fruit!
4. Riz Bhalib
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I love this dessert – it just smells like heaven. A pistachio crumble topping is always a welcome bonus!
5. Ghandour 555 Biscuits
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Usually stale; I sense it’s time to make Biscuit au Chocolat! Or just soak it in custard; whatever floats your boat.
6. Turkish Delight “Loukoum” flavour
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You can eat these with those stale Ghandour 555 biscuits you found in the cupboard!
7. “Mlabbas” Candies
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Tetas usually have a few of glass pretty-looking jars lying around in the salon (the guest living room); remove the lid expecting to find candy, and you find sugar coated almonds like those from a relative’s baby shower. No, Teta.
8. Kaak
Image via antoniotahhan.com
These just happen to be perfect with tea or coffee at any time of the day.
9. Debs and Tahini with Lebanese bread
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When there is absolutely no candy or snacks in the house, you resort to opening jars of molasses and tahini paste, pouring them into a glass bowl and using the mixture as a dip for Lebanese bread (of course, it would be a disaster if a Lebanese household didn’t have this essential staple bread lying around). By the way, I’ve just recently started to like this dessert / snack as an adult; try it for yourself!
10. A Variety of (Usually Homemade) Jam
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Mmmmm. Jam.
11. Apricot Leather “Amardeen”
Image via mykitchenstories.com.au
When I was a kid, my Teta used to wrap these like a 3arous (sandwich) and then cover the bottom with aluminum so that I could hold it without getting my hands all sticky, I still do it now – minus the aluminum because I simply can’t be bothered.
12. Halawa
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You are also likely to find a jar of this stuff in the cupboard. Do these things never expire?!
13. Ghandour Products
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Unica and the original dabké are always a favourite.
14. Some chocolate brand you’ve never heard of
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How does she find these things?!
15. 100-year old candy
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The stuff that just simply gets left behind…
16. Biscuits!
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Just kidding – it’s a sewing kit disguised as a biscuit tin. #ImWatchingYouTeta
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