Once you take the first bite, you’ll quickly forget the hardships you probably had all day so far, you take a second bite then sip a little tea, you take a deep breath and close your eyes… One bite after another, when you finish you serve yourself a second piece, not caring about the calories… It’s addictive!Covered with sesame seeds, Mayrig’s sfouf are like no other. Just know that this dessert a my favorite.I search for it everywhere I go. The one I had today is light, airy, slightly sticky, pleasantly spongy with an adequate sweetness and a nice aftertaste of turmeric.With their thickness of 3 centimeters, those squares of 6 centimeters are devoured in couple of bites while you prepare to start with the next one. I received a large box which was exterminated before sunset.With that, I received a box of square bites, they call “Kumba”. Those, have the sfouf consistency, a white color and are filled with dried raisins and crunchy almonds and covered with sesame seeds.
This is the story of Kumba:St. Sarkis has been one of the most popular saints for Armenians, especially for teenagers & lovers. There is an interesting tradition in Armenia related to this holiday. The night before St. Sarkis Day, the teenagers will go to church, firmly keeping an “Aghi plit” (salty cookie) in their pockets, which must be eaten before going to sleep. The salty cookie will make them thirsty & in their dreams whoever offers them a drink of water, will be their future husband or wife.There are other special foods related to that holiday. St. Sarkis’s holiday known as “Khashil bas”, “khashil” is a very unique food, prepared with roasted & ground wheat. The Armenians in Lebanon and Syria used to buy a special halva for that occasion. But the most delicious cake for St. Sarkis holiday is the Musa Daghian (jabal Moussa) “kumba”, a kind of “Darehats” (Year Bread), which has been a habit to prepare at New Year, in all the regions of Armenia. According to the tradition of darehats, also in kumba, it’s a term to put a “michink” (something to put in), a coin or a core of a fruit. Whoever receives the item in their serving of bread or cake will be the luckiest of that year, and will be the supporter of that family. During the years as a tradition the mother in laws of newly engaged women prepared this special lent cake and went to their fiancé’s house taking with them the kumba as a gesture. This tradition is still practiced in some Armenian communities.
Ingredients:
- flour
- Ferkha
- orange juice
- sugar
- Vegetable oil
- cinnamon
- Yeast
- mahlab
- sesame
- walnuts
- Raisins and almonds
