BEIRUT: One of the characteristics of Lebanese hospitality during Ramadan is the dazzling array of traditional desserts that are commonly served, including qatayef, kunafa and kallaj. Some, such as othmaliye, znoud el-sit and aish al-saraya, date back as far as the Ottoman era.
However, for more than three years the country has been in the grip of an ever-escalating economic crisis, during which its currency has lost 95 percent of its value. Although technically pegged to an exchange rate of 15,000 to the dollar, in reality is now being traded at a rate of more than 100,000.
Prices continue to soar and since the start of Ramadan alone, inflation has increased by 30 percent. As a result, the cost of essential items continue to rise, including ingredients such as cream, nuts and flour that are used to make some of the most popular Ramadan desserts, along with the oil, gas and electricity needed to prepare them. Many people are therefore finding the desserts they traditionally enjoy during the holy month too expensive to buy or even make at home.
Stores that price their products in dollars are selling othmaliye, a cream-filled pastry, for up to $18 a kilogram (almost as much as the minimum wage, at current exchange rates); znoud el-sit, crunchy and sweet phyllo-dough fingers filled with cream, for $17 a kilo; halawet al-jeben, sweet cheese rolls, for $15 a kilo; and kunafas, crunchy, cheese-filled pastries, for $2 each.
Other popular delicacies include aish al-saraya, which is bread soaked in milk and cinnamon, sweetened with sugar syrup and topped with a layer of cream, fried almonds and pistachios, and layali lubnan, also known as Lebanese nights, which is made from semolina, crushed wheat, rose water and vanilla, covered with cream, garnished with nuts or dried fruit and served with sugar syrup.
But given the ever-increasing costs of ingredients, and the wider effects of the financial crisis in the country, confectioners and bakers are improvising with their traditional dessert recipes.
For example, instead of the rich and decadent kallaj, which is made of thin, deep-fried dough filled with cheese or cream, soaked in sugar syrup and garnished with crushed pistachios, Uday Al-Halabi, the owner of Al-Shami Sweets in Beirut, is focusing on traditional favorites that do not contain as many of the more expensive ingredients, such as cream and certain nuts, including sfouf (a cake made from semolina, flavored with turmeric) and maakaroun (deep-fried, finger-shaped semolina pastries soaked in sugar syrup).
“We prepare some kinds of sweets that we think are going to be more in demand than others due to the increasing prices of ingredients, along with the cost of electricity and cooking gas,” he said.
“I am selling a kilogram of any kind for $5. I am still losing money every day because I pay a certain amount for the supplies I need one day, and the price of the same supplies doubles in less than two days. Therefore whatever profit I make is lost amid the current financial chaos.
“This year, we will not be selling kallaj because one piece costs $1.50. If we do the calculations based on the black market exchange rate, which is 110,000 Lebanese pounds to the dollar … the price of a dozen kallaj pieces would be about 2 million Lebanese pounds. The minimum wage in the country does not exceed 2.5 million Lebanese pounds.”
Pastry chef Wissam Al-Halabi said that during Ramadan people enjoy traditional desserts rather than more unusual or modern options. Nevertheless, he has been forced to make a few changes to ingredients.
“I tweaked the recipes,” he said. “We replaced pine nuts, a kilogram of which costs $100, or more than 10 million Lebanese pounds, with pistachios and toasted chickpeas. We are also buying any kind of flour we can find instead of very specific types. The same applies to oil.
“The demand for pastries and sweets has decreased this month, as they are now considered non-essential during Ramadan meals. We have lost dozens of customers during this crisis.”
Ghada Al-Jammal and her husband own a small shop in the commercial district of Al-Basta, which has been one of Beirut’s most popular areas since 1963. They said they are rushed off their feet because they were forced to let all of their employees go to reduce costs as a result of the financial crisis.
“We decided to sell the cheapest sweet bite that everyone can afford, qatayef, as it is a popular sweet dish that people always like,” said Al-Jammal.
“We stopped selling Arabic ice cream due to power cuts at night, which were the result of power generators shutting down. We also stopped selling kallaj, as the price of one cooking gas cylinder with a capacity of 35 kilograms now exceeded 4 million Lebanese pounds, while a kilogram of cream now costs 1 million pounds, compared with 180,000 pounds last year.”
“People who used to buy a kilogram of qatayef are now buying half a kilogram, which amounts to just $1, while some settle for just 100 grams,” Al-Jammal said.
Qatayef is similar to a pancake, and is commonly stuffed with cream and walnuts, deep-fried and soaked in sugar syrup.
“Our female customers who have opted to not buy sweets this year told us they have decided to replace them with homemade sweets, such as rice pudding,” added Al-Jammal.
