Egyptian desserts

March 17, 2007 8:27 AM

Please help me find recipes for two Egyptian desserts: Oum Ali and Kouskousy.

Online, I've found a French recipe for Oum Ali, but nothing for the latter, and nothing in English for either. I'd really prefer English language recipes with US measurements. I'd be happy for cookbook references. And of course I'd be thrilled for personal recipes!

posted by anonymous78 to food & drink (5 comments total)

"Oum" is a francophone transliteration of Arabic. Try this.
posted by Phred182 at 8:58 AM on March 17, 2007

Egyptian couscous dessert recipes
posted by miss lynnster at 9:28 AM on March 17, 2007

This is a good post because I wanted the recipe for both of these myself. Anyhow, I was trying to figure out why a dessert was named "Mother of Ali" (أم علي). So here's the story I found:

This dish has some unsavory history. In Arab countries, it is customary to call a person as "Father of ..." and then the name of the eldest son. Omm Ali was the wife of a ruler from the Ayyubid dynasty. Her rival Shagaret El Dorr (Tree of Pearls) was the second wife of that ruler. After his death, Shagaret El Dorr arranged for Om Ali to be murdered by her servants, and to celebrate, she distributed bread with milk and honey. Shagaret El Dorr ruled Egypt for some time in the name of her husband, and would later die in a conspiracy too. This became a dish known as Om Ali.

And most of the couscous desserts in the link above have rosewater... if you're looking for the one that's just with sugar, raisins, cinnamon & nuts (كسكسي بالسكر), here's a recipe for that.

This this Egyptian cuisine site seems like a good find! Now I just have to try the recipes & see if they're tasty... :)
posted by miss lynnster at 10:33 AM on March 17, 2007

Just noticed... when I posted the arabic, it reversed the order of the words to left-right. Weird.
posted by miss lynnster at 10:35 AM on March 17, 2007

Thanks Phred182 and miss lynnster for the links. My googling skills obviously need some brushing up!
posted by anonymous78 at 10:45 AM on March 17, 2007