As soon as winter comes it dethrones all other popular sweets and fills houses and shops in the Gaza Strip.
Kousha Shatawi or Ras al-Abed are names for this famous Palestinian dessert which owns the hearts of the young and the old alike.
Shatawi is one of the popular sweets which the Gaza Strip is known for as well as some Palestinian cities in the Occupied West Bank.
Shatawi mainly consists of biscuits as a round base a cream on the top of it and a crispy cover of chocolate.
The Shatawi industry started in Occupied Palestine 30 years ago and currently there are dozens of factories that produce Shatawi in the winter only.
Shatawi Making
Shatawi’s cream is made of dried egg white which is dissolved and put in water for 12 hours and syrup: water sugar and glucose.
In the factory the cream is first put on a round biscuits base then the Shatawi pieces pass into a cool tube to cool the cream. In the next phase they are covered with chocolate.
Later the pieces are wrapped packed and prepared for sale.
Shatawi is known for its cheap price which makes it accessible to all people. One piece costs half a shekel and a carton is sold for 6 shekels (one and a half dollars).
Many Gazan families offer Shatawi as a modest gift during visits considering its low price and difficult living conditions in the besieged Gaza Strip.
First shipment abroad
The Gaza Strip in late December 2019 started for the first time to export 100% locally-made Shatawi to the Gulf countries as announced by the Public Relations and Media Department at Karam Abu Salem crossing.
This is the first time food commodities manufactured in the Gaza Strip have been allowed to be exported abroad. Usually Gaza is only allowed to export agricultural products such as strawberries tomatoes and cucumbers abroad.
About 8 tons of Shatawi were loaded onto a truck that left the Gaza Strip through Karam Abu Salem crossing heading to Jordan via Allenby crossing then Bahrain.
For its part Sarayo al-Wadia for Food Industries issued a press statement saying that the group has managed to export the first shipment of Shatawi made in its factories outside the Gaza Strip.
Sarayo al-Wadia said that it is the first time that the group the first company of its kind in Gaza has succeeded in exporting national food products to foreign markets.
