Kleicha (original) (raw)

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Middle Eastern cookie

Kleicha (ܟܠܝܟ̰ܐ، كليجة، کلوچه، کادە)

Iraqi kleicha
Type	Cookie
Place of origin	Iraq (Mesopotamia)[1]
Region or state	Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran
Created by
Serving temperature	Hot or cold
Main ingredients	Dough, nuts, dates, and sesame seeds
Variations	Saudi Kleicha, Koloocheh
Media: Kleicha (ܟܠܝܟ̰ܐ، كليجة، کلوچه، کادە)

Kleicha (Persian: کلوچه, romanized: koluche; North Mesopotamian Arabic: كليچة, romanized: klēči, Mesopotamian Arabic: كليچة, romanized: kilēča; Najdi Arabic: كليجة, romanized: k(i)lēja; Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܟܠܝܟ̰ܐ, romanized: kleča;[2] Kurmanji Kurdish: kade; Sorani Kurdish: کادە, romanized: kāda; Turkish: kiliçe) is a type of Middle Eastern cookie.

Kleicha comes in several traditional shapes and fillings. The most popular are the ones filled with dates (kleichat tamur). There are also sweet discs (khfefiyyat), as well as half moons filled with nuts, sugar and/or desiccated coconut (kleichat joz). They are usually flavoured with cardamom and sometimes rose water, and glazed with egg wash, which may sometimes be scented and coloured with saffron.[3]

Muslims make kleicha for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha and also for their celebrations, weddings or special ceremonies and they are stuffed with many different fillings like dates, pistachios, walnuts, coconuts, dried figs, sesame seeds or Turkish delight. While Iraqi Jews make it for Hanukkah.[4]

Assyrians bake kilecheh on Eeda Gura, Easter, and Eeda Sura, Christmas, on which they are usually stuffed with dates and served with tea.[5]

Etymology

From Middle Persian [Book Pahlavi needed] (kwlʾck' /kulāčag/, lit. 'small, round bun').[6] Historically, kleicha may be traced back to the ancient Sumerian ‘qullupu'[1]

Origin

The origins of kleicha can be traced back to ancient Mesopotamia, where Sumerians would prepare this cookie to celebrate the New Year and Ishtar, one of the more prominent goddesses in ancient Sumerian mythology. Spring represented rebirth and renewal, which coincided with Ishtar's power of fertility. To honor the goddess, ancient Sumerians would bake qullupu, the kleicha's ancestor. These cookies were shaped to resemble a full or crescent moon that symbolized the arrival of Spring, which was often marked by the first full moon in late March or early April.[1][7]

Varieties

Saudi Arabia

Klēja from Qassim

Klēja being made in Qassim

Although the name is somewhat similar, Klēja in the Najd region of Saudi Arabia (Qassim and Haʼil provinces) differs in taste, shape and ingredients from Iraqi kleicha. It is made with yeasted dough that has been enriched with spices, such as cardamom and cinnamon, and filled with a mixture of either date, sugar, or honey molasses and spices, typically cardamom, but also black dried lime, cinnamon, and ginger.[8]

References