Inside a LEBANESE SWEETS FACTORY - Making Ma'amoul & Baklava in Sidon, Lebanon!!
š§³NICO: https://www.instagram.com/explorernico
š±š§ AL BABA SWEETS: https://www.instagram.com/albabasweets
š MY TRAVEL/FOOD BLOG: https://davidsbeenhere.com/
My epic trip through Lebanon continued in the beautiful city of Sidon, where I got to visit an amazing sweets shop! Come with me as I visit an incredible Lebanese sweets shop in Sidon, Lebanon!
Sidon is a coastal city located roughly midway between Beirut and Tyre. Itās the third-largest city in the country and boasts an epic history that dates back to the Phoenician era in antiquity!
š DAVIDāS BEEN HERE MERCH: https://teespring.com/stores/davids-been-here
My stop for the morning was Al Baba Sweets, the most iconic sweets shop in the country! It dates back to the 1950s, and four generations of the same family have worked there! I couldnāt wait to see how they make baklava and maāamoul!
Inside, I met the employees and headed into the kitchen in the back. We could smell the sugar! First, we learned how they prepare maāamoul, which is usually made for Easter, but you can get it here year-round!
Maāamoul is made with white semolina, sugar, yeast, butter, and vegetable fat. I watched the mixer combine all the ingredients into a paste. Then, they fill it with cheese, chocolate, pistachios, dates, walnuts, or apricots. They roll them out into little cylinder shapes entirely by hand!
Then, we went to another room where they made the baklava. Baklava can vary in shape depending on the country where itās made. These were square-shaped and come filled with either cashews or pistachios.
I also saw where they make the phyllo dough, and other stations where they roll them up into their shape, and douse them in ghee before they bake them!
They add the filling by hand. I even got a chance to put on some gloves and help them arrange the baklava on the tray. There were 450 on one tray! I was surprised at how light they were. They also smelled really nice!
I also watched them roll out the phyllo dough they use to make the baklava. Then, they bake the maāamoul for 5 minutes. The entire process takes about an hour.
I also got to see another sweet called borma, which is made of thick and crunchy strands of dough wrapped around a nutty filling of pistachios, cashews, or pine kernels.
Back in the showroom, they had all of the sweets on display. Nico and I got some pistachio maāamoul with powdered sugar, date maaāmoul, and baklava. The one with dates was soft and buttery, and the pistachio was grainy and quite tasty.
We had two types of baklava as well. I loved the layers and the sugar syrup. The pistachios inside were incredible as well. They were all bite-sized!
Then, they brought us some lahm bi ajeen, which is a Lebanese meat pie made with minced lamb. This variation was made with puff pastry instead of in the traditional pizza-like style. Itās crispy on the outside and has lots of layers.
Our last dish of the morning was the knafeh, which is a traditional breakfast item made with semolina dough, Ackawi cheese, and topped with sugar syrup.
Itās so cheesy and decadent and has a nice, crunchy crust on top. It was the perfect way to end our time at Al Baba Sweets in Sidon, Lebanon!
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About Me:
My name is David Hoffmann. For the last 13 years, I have traveled the world in search of unique destinations and cuisines. Since starting Davidās Been Here in 2008, I have explored over 1,200 destinations in 84 countries, while documenting them on my YouTube channels, travel blog, and social media sites.
I focus mostly on cuisine, culture, and historical sites, but my passion is food! I love to experience and showcase the different flavors each destination has to offer, from casual street food to gourmet restaurant dining.
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