{"id":8324,"date":"2026-10-19T15:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T06:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8324"},"modified":"2026-10-31T19:09:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T10:09:53","slug":"gazelle-horns","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/gazelle-horns\/","title":{"rendered":"Gazelle Horns (Kaab el Ghazal)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cGazelle horns,\u201d made in Morocco and elsewhere in the Maghreb, are sweets that wrap nuts and floral fragrance in a thin shell. The almond filling is packed densely, the pieces are bent into slender-tipped crescents, and they are baked without letting the dough puff up much. The French name cornes de gazelle and the Moroccan kaab al-ghazal evoke the same shape, but the two names do not refer to the same part of the animal\u2019s body.<\/p>\n

\n\"Gazelle\n
Gazelle horns photographed at the Kasbah of the Udayas in Rabat (February 24, 2017). Held in the hand outdoors among plantings, the sealed edge of the thin shell and the slender-tipped shape are clearly visible. Photo: Sambasoccer27 \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version obtained from Commons. No content alterations or cropping were made for this use.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Fitting a thin shell to the filling<\/h2>\n

The basic modern almond version consists of a wheat-flour shell and a filling of almonds, sugar, butter and orange blossom water. The two are made separately, and the filling is first shaped into finger-sized sticks. The filling is soft yet holds its shape, and a thinly rolled shell is fitted around it. The method differs from that of sweets in which the dough is made thick and allowed to rise, as with bread.<\/p>\n

Kneading and resting the shell dough makes it less likely to shrink when rolled thin. The shell is pressed along the filling and sealed without leaving any air, and the overlapping excess is cut off. In some methods, small holes are pricked before baking to keep the surface from puffing up. By shaping the filling first and removing the excess shell, each piece is formed into an arc of even thickness that tapers toward the tips.<\/p>\n

Orange blossom water is not a juice but an aromatic water into which the fragrance of the flowers has been transferred. Its role differs from that of ingredients that add acidity: it layers a floral fragrance over the fat of the almonds and the sweetness of the sugar. Some households add cinnamon and the like, and there is no single aromatic profile.<\/p>\n

Different finishes with powdered sugar, nuts and honey<\/h2>\n

Besides leaving the thin shell visible, there are finishes such as a thick coating of powdered sugar or a topping of nuts. In T\u00e9touan in northern Morocco, there are versions with edges decorated in a wavy pattern, and kaab ghzal mfannad covers a slightly thicker shell with a thick layer of powdered sugar. In the Larousse recipe (ingredient proportions and method), the wrapped shell is brushed with egg yolk and topped with sliced almonds before baking. In Algerian tcharak msakkar, the pastries are soaked in syrup and coated with powdered sugar.<\/p>\n

Besides orange blossom water, some versions perfume the almond filling with rose water or cinnamon. A household tcharak nakache is filled with dates and decorated with patterns using a special pinching tool. Almond sticks and fruit paste differ both in the color of the cut surface and in how they feel when bitten. With a modern method that mixes honey into the almond filling and also brushes it on the baked surface, what touches the tongue first is not a film of sugar but glossy honey.<\/p>\n

Served with tea at Moroccan celebrations<\/h2>\n

In Morocco, they are counted among the sweets for celebrations such as Eid, together with honeyed briouats and ghriba<\/a>. At weddings, almond horns are sometimes arranged with other small sweets and served to guests with tea. Assortments of sweets are also prepared for birth celebrations, but they are not limited to \u201cgazelle horns.\u201d Moroccan food culture, including the celebration table, combines Amazigh, Arab-Andalusian and Jewish backgrounds.<\/p>\n

\n\"Gazelle\n
Gazelle horns in a pastry shop in Asilah, Morocco (April 19, 2003). Pieces with fine patterns are lined up, with other small sweets placed beside them. Photo: Rui Ornelas \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY 2.0<\/a>. Original-size image obtained. No content alterations or cropping were made for this use.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Names meaning \u201chorn\u201d and \u201cankle,\u201d and a medieval sweet<\/h2>\n

The French cornes de gazelle<\/em> and the Arabic qarn al-ghaz\u0101l<\/em> (qarn al-ghazal) call the pointed arc a \u201chorn.\u201d On the other hand, in ka\u02bfb al-ghaz\u0101l<\/em> (kaab al-ghazal), a name also used in Morocco, ka\u02bfb<\/em> refers in this name to the \u201cankle\u201d or \u201cheel.\u201d Although it is a \u201chorn\u201d in French, there are also Arabic names that liken it to an \u201cankle.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 13th-century \u201cExile\u2019s Cookbook\u201d also contains a sweet named \u201cgazelle\u2019s ankles.\u201d As translated and recreated by Arab culinary historian Daniel Newman, it takes the form not of today\u2019s crescent but of a thin rolled stick. The shell uses flour, olive oil, hot water and salt with spices such as fennel and anise, and the filling consists of almonds, sugar and rose water. A luxurious version with added pine nuts is also mentioned.<\/p>\n

The wrapping of nuts in a thin shell and the name are similar, but the medieval sweet was stick-shaped and used olive oil in the shell and rose water in the filling. It differs from today\u2019s crescent-shaped sweet in shape as well as in its fats and aromatic ingredients. Newman regards this medieval sweet as an ancestor of the modern one, and also presents Algerian msakkar as a sweet of the same lineage.<\/p>\n

An Algerian crescent measured with her mother\u2019s bowl<\/h2>\n

In chef Samia Bouchenafa\u2019s tcharak el aryane, an almond stick is placed on dough rolled into a triangle and rolled up like a croissant, then brushed with egg and topped with nuts. Even the way it is wrapped differs from the method of covering the filling with the shell and trimming around it.<\/p>\n

Having learned Algerian pastry-making from her mother, she says that even though she has come to measure precisely in her professional work, she uses her mother\u2019s bowl for traditional sweets and keeps measurements such as \u201cheaped\u201d and \u201cone finger less.\u201d Along with the sweets, what has been handed down is not only the numbers in the proportions but also the sense of measuring with the household\u2019s own vessels.<\/p>\n

Her family makes them all year round, not only for celebrations, and serves them with mint tea or Turkish coffee. She also describes one of their pleasures: because no syrup is poured over them, they are less likely to make your hands sticky even when carried around. Unlike msakkar, which is coated in syrup and powdered sugar, this is a crescent-shaped sweet that is also eaten in everyday life.<\/p>\n

\n\"Algerian\n
Algerian tcharak (2004; location unknown). Crescents with a white surface are set in paper cups and arranged together. Photo: Sa\u00efd IDRI \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Original-size image obtained. No content alterations or cropping were made for this use.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

\u2022 Mfannad<\/strong>: A type of Moroccan kaab ghzal. It uses a slightly thicker shell, and the surface is coated with a thick layer of powdered sugar.\n\u2022 Samia Bouchenafa: A chef who publishes Algerian home cooking and pastry. She shares the sweets she inherited from her mother and her household\u2019s ways of measuring.\n\u2022 Tcharak el aryane: The name of an Algerian sweet that is not covered in a sugar coating but finished with egg, nuts and the like.\n\u2022 Qarn al-ghazal \/ kaab al-ghazal: Arabic-derived names; the former means \u201cgazelle\u2019s horn\u201d and the latter \u201cgazelle\u2019s ankle.\u201d\n\u2022 Maghreb: The name of a region in northwest Africa, including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and other countries.\n\u2022 Orange blossom water: An aromatic water carrying the fragrance of blossoms, mainly of the bitter orange. It is different from juice.\n\u2022 Eid: An Islamic festival. Examples include the festival at the end of the month of fasting and the Feast of the Sacrifice.\n\u2022 Daniel Newman: A researcher of the Arabic language and food culture who translates and recreates medieval Arab cookbooks.\n\u2022 Rose water: An aromatic water with the fragrance of roses. Its fragrance differs from that of orange blossom water.\n\u2022 Fennel \/ anise: Herbs whose seeds and other parts are used for flavoring.\n\u2022 Tcharak msakkar: The name, used in Algeria, of a sugar-coated sweet of the same lineage.\n\u2022 Tcharak nakache: An Algerian sweet filled with dates and decorated with patterns using a pinching tool.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n
  1. A single inventor cannot be identified from the multilayered food-culture background alone. In addition, the 13th-century stick-shaped \u201cgazelle\u2019s ankles\u201d is not equated with the year the present-day crescent was invented.<\/li>

  2. \u2022 Moroccan National Tourist Office, \u201cT\u00e9touan\u201d PDF<\/a> \u2014 p. 7 describes the local horns with decorated edges.\n\u2022 Samia Ben, \u201cTcharek Nakache\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Her own date filling and pinching-tool decoration, published from Algeria. Not treated as the standard recipe for the region as a whole.\n\u2022 Hachette Pratique, \u201cCornes de gazelle au miel\u201d<\/a> \u2014 A modern author\u2019s recipe using honey in the filling and on the surface after baking. Not a historical source showing the age of the tradition.\n\u2022 Maghrib D\u00e9lice, \u201cMariages\u201d<\/a> \u2014 A current example of a shop including horns in its wedding assortments. Not a source proving wedding customs in general.<\/p><\/li>

  3. \u2022 \u00c9ditions Larousse Cornes de gazelle aux amandes<\/a> \u2014 The French name meaning \u201chorns,\u201d the two components, the thin shell and air holes, and the egg yolk and sliced almond finish.\n\u2022 Moroccan National Tourist Office Gastronomy<\/a> \u2014 Eid sweets and multiple food-culture backgrounds.\n\u2022 Moroccan National Tourist Office Food & Drinks<\/a> \u2014 Crushed almonds, the thin shell, orange blossom water and mint tea.\n\u2022 Daniel Newman, Gazelle\u2019s ankles, 2024<\/a> \u2014 The stick shape of the 13th-century recipe, the shell of olive oil, hot water and spices, the almond filling with rose water and pine nuts, and the modern Algerian name.<\/p><\/li>

  4. \u2022 Samia Bouchenafa, \u201cTcherek el Ary\u00e2ne alg\u00e9rien, corne de gazelle aux amandes\u201d (2019-02-23)<\/a> \u2014 Technique handed down from her mother, shaping from a triangle, the egg-and-nut finish of Ary\u00e2ne, and its uses with tea, at celebrations and during Ramadan. The sugar coating belongs to msakrin, a separate type contrasted on the same page, and is not to be confused with the Ary\u00e2ne recipe.<\/p><\/li>

  5. Mohamed Oubahli, \u201cLe banquet d\u2019Ibn \u2018Ali Masfiwi, lexique, notes et commentaires,\u201d 2008, p. 115, entry 18<\/a> \u2014 The transcription on the relevant page of the original article was actually read. The meaning \u201cheel,\u201d aromatics such as rose water, and mfannad with a slightly thicker shell and powdered sugar. Includes quotations from the Pr\u00e9mare dictionary and the author\u2019s supplementary notes; the dictionary itself was not read.<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Gazelle horns are a slender, crescent-shaped Moroccan sweet. In French they are called cornes de gazelle, and in Arabic they go by names such as kaab el ghazal. Hidden inside the thin dough is an almond filling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7230,"menu_order":95,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Kaab el Ghazal","subtitle":"A Moroccan crescent of almonds wrapped in a thin shell","topics":"Almonds \/ Orange blossom \/ Crescent shape \/ Mint tea","country":"Morocco","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["fruit","nuts","butter"],"texture":[],"occasion":["ramadan"],"method":["baked"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[151],"class_list":["post-8324","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"manual","sweetlore_related_articles":[8323,8248,8249,8250,8251,8254,8255,8257]},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t