One popular restaurant at the entrance of the city of Hebron located at the Jerusalem square in particular where dozens of classic and popular restaurants offer Hebron Qidra Maqlubih Mansaf Mandi and Musakhan is characterized by old dishes that have a unique taste enjoyed only by the rich in Palestine.
Historical roots
Specialists in the Palestinian kitchen agree that the Shushbarak is about 100 years old and it has a Turkish origin. The words Barak means dough and Shush means covered and the combination of both words means covered dough.
Some people call the dish with other names such as: the ears of Shayeb (old man) and the ears of the cats while others believe that it originated in the Levant. Some of the people of the Levant are close to the Turkish borders. Dr. Idris Jaradat a Palestinian folklore expert who has several cuisine books told the PIC reporter “The origin of this dish is Turkish and its original name is “Shish Darak” and Shish means hat and Darak means military which together means a military hat as it looks like a military hat.
Idris confirms that the Palestinian kitchen has been dealing with Shushbarak for more than six decades. The Palestinians cooked it until it became cooked by the aristocratic families only. The people of Hama in Syria were known for making it so did the people of Hebron and Nablus in Palestine.
Dish components
Chef Mohammed al-Qawasmi Abu Muhannad 75 years old notes the most prominent components of this old dish “Shushbarak consists of dough lamb meat local oil soft onions local yogurt and spices with a little olive oil where flour is mixed with warm water and salt cutting it into small balls and waiting for half an hour for it to become ready.”
After this comes the second and most important stage the filling process that gives Shushbarak its delicious taste. The filling consists of minced mutton with soft onions spices salt and roasted pine seeds; they are fried and roasted with olive oil. Then yogurt and pine seeds are prepared after preparing local yogurt which is cooked on fire until it boils. Pieces of covered dough are thrown into the boiling yogurt for about half an hour and then poured into dishes with some pine seeds on the top of the dish.
The benefits of Shushbarak
Shushbarak has a lot of benefits. Nutritionist Suad Dajani reveals some of them to the PIC “It is one of the healthy dishes full of benefits as it is a source of protein which feeds the body with essential amino acids as well as iron and phosphorus.”
According to Dajani it is also rich with soluble fiber that gives the body a certain amount of energy while boiling yogurt prevents the accumulation of bacteria in the intestines and digestive system.
The food of the rich
The fact that Shushbarak is made of lamb meat pine seeds and local yogurt made it expensive with one portion exceeding $80 in addition to other ingredients. It is a dish that needs time money and skill. Thus when Palestinians are invited to lunch they ask: “Is it Shushbarak?”
