Chebakia

Chebakia is a sweet of the Maghreb, centered on Morocco: dough is shaped into a flower and fried, soaked in syrup scented with orange blossom water, and scattered with sesame seeds. Cutting parallel slits into a single sheet of dough and then turning and folding the connected strips creates a flower shape that readily takes up the syrup. Although its name evokes a “net,” the way the shape is made differs from sweets in which batter is poured to draw lines.

Shaping a single slit sheet of dough into a flower

The wheat-flour dough is combined with fat and orange blossom water. Some versions use finely ground sesame seeds or almonds, eggs, vinegar or yeast, and are flavored with anise, cinnamon, saffron and other spices. Sesame is not only scattered on as a finish but may also be ground into the dough, where, together with almonds and other ingredients, it shapes the flavor of the dough itself. There are also methods that leave sesame and eggs out of the dough and mainly combine flour, oil and liquid.

The kneaded and rested dough is rolled out and cut into squares, and parallel slits are made inside each square. Because the edges at both ends are left intact, the thin strips do not come apart but stay connected within a single frame. Threading a finger through alternate slits, then pinching the ends and turning them through the center, produces a flower shape of overlapping strips.

Some are shaped into an oval weave, and the number and width of the slits are not fixed. Dough waiting to be shaped is kept covered so that it does not dry out too much and break.

Warm honey with freshly fried dough, cold syrup with cooled dough

When the shaped dough goes into hot oil, small bubbles form on the surface of the strips and the thin edges take on color. The intricate shapes are handled carefully so they do not break, and the pan is not overcrowded so that the heat reaches every part. Once fried, the pieces are lifted out with their flower shape intact and then moved into the sweet liquid.

In the method where honey is warmed with orange blossom water and the pastries are dipped straight from the fryer, they are lifted out once they have absorbed the honey, drained of the excess and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. In this preparation, the scents of honey and blossom are layered over the aromatic dough.

Other versions, by contrast, use a syrup of sugar, water, lemon juice and orange blossom water boiled together. With this syrup, there is a method in which both the dough and the syrup are cooled, and the pastries are dipped briefly and eaten right away. Depending on the type of syrup, the dipping temperature and time, as well as how far it soaks into the dough, also change.

Regional names and ways of making the net

Sweets made by assembling strips of cut dough go by different names from place to place. In a comparison by food culture scholar Mohamed Oubahli, examples include chebakia in Marrakesh, mkharka in the central region including Rabat, and griouech in Fez, Oujda, western Algeria and Algiers. Mkharka is linked to the Arabic for “to tear, to pierce,” which also fits the slit shape.

There is also zlabia, a wreath-shaped fried sweet made by pouring thin streams of loose batter into oil and layering the lines into a net. Oubahli records examples in which such poured, net-shaped sweets are called mkharka in Marrakesh and chebakia in northern Morocco, so they can share a name with the sweet made of assembled cut dough. The way the net is made differs depending on whether strips of dough are turned and assembled or liquid batter is poured into oil.

A folktale of a heartbroken sweet seller who changed the shape

In Morocco there is also a tale of a sweet seller who fell in love with a girl he saw through a window. In a telling from Chefchaouen recorded by AfriFOODlinks, which documents food culture, the man fried a sweet resembling the girl’s window and dipped it in honey, intending to give it to her. But when he learned that she was going to marry another man, the story continues, he went home and rearranged the strips as if to hide the window shape, creating today’s intricate form.

This folktale explains shubbak, meaning “window,” and the overlapping strips through love and heartbreak. Neither the names of the sweet seller and the girl nor when it took place are known for certain. It is a story that ties the window-like net and the handwork of rearranging the strips to the changing course of a man’s love.

Family handwork for Ramadan, and Purim gifts

In Morocco, there is a custom of families gathering before Ramadan to make large quantities of chebakia. Because kneading the dough, cutting it finely, shaping it into flowers, frying it and coating it in honey take many steps, the time spent working together is also part of the preparation.

At the table after sunset, warm harira and sweet chebakia are served together. A soup of legumes, tomatoes and other ingredients is set beside a sweet fragrant with honey, spices and sesame, so savory and sweet flavors are enjoyed at the same meal. Chebakia is also served with tea after the fast has been broken.

In the food culture of Moroccan Jews, it is also made for Purim gifts, weddings, henna celebrations and other occasions. It is not only an everyday sweet for tea but also one to hand to others and share with family and guests.

Moroccan Jewish sweets laid out for a pre-wedding henna ceremony in Israel. The photographer states that chebakia is among them. Photo: PeleYoetz, 2024-08-12, Israel. Original image / CC0. Original size, no additional processing.

Glossary