Winter has started bringing along with it cold where the popularity of the famous Nabuls-made dessert known as Al-Tamria increases. Al-Tamria brings about warmth and energy for the Palestinians in the West Bank in general and in Nablus in particular.
There are many specialized shops in the city of Nablus which make Al-Tamria and the growing numbers of customers could be seen waiting in queues to get it.
Al-Tamria is among the cheap popular sweets for the simplicity of its components and it is easy preparation. It is made up of two main ingredients: dough and sweet cream and it is sold at a price ranging from 1.5 to 2 NIS per piece.
The cream is made of semolina sugar and water which are cooked together and then poured in trays and left until getting cool and compact then cut into small squares to be wrapped with a thin layer of dough and put in hot oil until it gets red.
The demand for Al-Tamria is increasing in the winter where it is eaten while hot. Eating it on Friday mornings is a tradition in Nablus that many are still keen to stick to both during summer and winter.
Authentic Nablus heritage
Because of its connection to the Nablus heritage most Al-Tamria shops are concentrated in the Old City and its surroundings although some shops have recently opened branches in remote neighborhoods.
On a large frying pan in one of the famous shops at Al-Nasr Street in the Old City a number of citizens waited for Al-Tamria to get cooked early in the morning to eat it before they go to their jobs.
Majdi Arafat the owner of Al-Tamria shop told the PIC: “The peak hour for me is in the early morning especially when workers go to work.”
He adds that workers are the most popular customers of Al-Tamria because it provides them with the necessary energy in the winter.
Arafat has been making Al-Tamria since he was seven years old and he has inherited the secret of making it from his father who belongs to a family that has been famous for making it for a long time.
It is not known for sure why Al-Tamria was named as such. Some people believe it is due to the way it is prepared where the dough is filled with cream or because after it is made it is thrown into hot oil.
However Arafat notes that the name belongs to the village of Tamra in the occupied Palestinian territories in 1948 where one of his grandparents came from there and was the first to introduce this desert to Nablus about 200 years ago.
Warmth and energy
Raji Al-Hindi told the PIC reporter while eating a hot piece of Al-Tamria that the desert gives him enough energy to begin a hard day in construction.
He points out that eating Al-Tamria is an old Nablus tradition which is observed every now and then especially during cold days and Fridays.
Although it is a Nablus tradition Al-Tamria is also demanded by visitors and guests.
Arafat confirms that a great deal of his production is going to people from other cities and villages and the Palestinians of the occupied territories in 1948 as well as tourists and foreign delegations where they are keen to eat it every time they visit and sometimes they take Al-Tamria back to their cities and villages.
