Homeland

Canada may have maple syrup and Russia may have birch tree syrup, but Syria, known for its grapes in certain regions, has grape syrup. Although we do not have pancakes in Syria, we use this sweet, syrup to make many similar delicious treats!

My region in Syria, As Suwayda , is famous for its grapes. We make many products from grapes such us wine, raki, an alcoholic drink, grape juice and raisins, but the most important product from our region is grape syrup. We make it in the traditional way as we learned from our predecessors . Every year, at the end of September before the rains come, we harvest the grapes and we keep them for one day in a storage container .This makes grapes release more juice. On the second day, we start pressing the grapes by putting them in a special bag and we add some fine sand to help squeeze the grapes. After that, we put the bags in a large basin, then stomp on the bags to let the juice out. We collect the juice in a big pot, then boil it . This is the first stage.

In the second stage, we take the pot and keep it until the syrup separates the sand and the liquid , all of the sand and impurities fall to the bottom of the pot . We drain it to have a clear syrup and boil it again until it becomes thick and sticky. We leave it until it cools, then we put it in bottles and store them for the winter.

We use the grape syrup in many recipes like cookies , cakes, Aseda, which is a kind of dessert made from whole wheat flour , butter, and grape syrup. Also, we eat the syrup with bread and tahena. On snowy days, we add the syrup to ice , mix them together and we eat it by spoon like ice cream. It’s called Baksama. The grape syrup contains mineral- like calcium and iron and gives energy , so it is good for the winter time.

Here is a recipe for sesame cookies using grape syrup. We usually prepare this before Eid Al Adha and in the winter time make it , I hope you will try it

Sesame cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of whole wheat flour
• 1 cup of white flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/2 cup of grape syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon mahlab
• 1/2 teaspoon anise seeds
• 1 tablespoon lemon peel
• 1 cup sesame seeds, toasted

Directions:

1. Put white flour and whole wheat flour , anise seeds ,lemon peel and baking soda in a bowl, mix together . Add the milk.
2. Add olive oil , mix them together , then add grape syrup. Mix until the dough is firm.
3. Cut the dough into small pieces, then shape them into rings or leave them straight.
4. Dip the cookies in sesame seeds . Place them on a baking tray covered with a baking sheet.
5. Bake for 15 minutes at 175 ° C until dry.