Sweets
Xalwo or halva is a popular confection served during special occasions such as Eid celebrations or wedding receptions. Xalwadii waad qarsatey! ("You hid your xalwo!") is the phrase that follows a person who has eloped or has a small, private wedding. Xalwo is made from sugar, cornstarch, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder, and ghee. Peanuts are also sometimes added to enhance texture and flavor.
Kashaato or qumbe, made of coconut, oils and sugar, and spiced with cardamom, is a much-loved sweet. The sugar is brought to boil with a bit of water, then the cardamom is added, followed by shredded coconut.
Lows iyo sisin is a favorite sweet in the south, made of a mixture of peanuts (lows) and sesame seeds (sisin) in a bed of caramel. It sticks together to form a delicious bar.
Jalaato, similar to the American popsicle, is made by freezing naturally sweet fruits with a stick in the middle. More recently in Mogadishu, it has grown to include caano/milk jalaato, which then requires sugaring up. The word jalaato comes from gelato, which is Italian for "frozen".
Buskut or Buskud comprise many different types of cookies, including very soft ones called daardaar (literally "touch-touch" due to its smooth, delicate texture).
Doolshe encompass many delectable styles of cakes.
Icun is also a sweet mostly eaten by southern Somalis. It is made of sugar and flour mixed with oil. People prefer to say Icun I calaangi caloosha I gee (Eat me, chew me then take me to your stomach) when they see it. It is mainly eaten in weddings and Eid times but southern Somalis always do make it home and eat it as part of a dessert.
There are many sweets eaten in weddings, parties or Eid times, mostly in Southern Somalia such as Baalbaaloow, Shuushuumoow, Bur Hindi, Bur Tuug as well as qumbe (coconut) made of coconuts mixed with sugar to form a bar just like Peanuts and Seeds.
Read more about this topic: Somalian Cuisine
Famous quotes containing the word sweets:
“The morning rose, that untouched stands
Armed with her briars, how sweet she smells!
But plucked and strained through ruder hands,
Her sweets no longer with her dwells,
But scent and beauty both are gone,
And leaves fall from her, one by one.”
—Sir Robert Ayton (1570–1638)
“Those who have never had a father can at any rate never know the sweets of losing one. To most men the death of his father is a new lease of life.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“In yonder Grave a Druid lies
Where slowly winds the Stealing Wave!
The Year’s best Sweets shall duteous rise
To deck its Poet’s sylvan Grave!”
—William Collins (1721–1759)