Namoura, Basbousa, Samali, Shamali

All four of these names are the same thing. It is the same sweet cake in different languages and dialects across the Middle East. Namoura (Lebanese), Basbousa (Egyptian), Samali (Persian), Shamali (Armenian).

The list goes on. Not every region necessarily has their own label for this semolina based cake, but you get the idea, for instance, we don't really have a name for it in Kurdish. I tend to go with Namoura, namely because it is a softer pronounciation. The Arabic language is quite coarse and the annunciation is very specific, but Lebanese is smoother, no less aided by the fact that they were French colonized, and therefore, it is a part of the discourse and accent.

This sweet cake is two or three bites, depending on the slice of delicious sweetness packed with a sugary syrup coating. You can take your pick on what to call this cake, but every region does have their slight nuances. Some call for coconut, some call for tahini paste at the bottom of the pan in place of butter or oil, and some call for the option of semolina or farina, depending on which grain flour is accessible. There wasn't all purpose flours or really any kind of basic home-cooking flour as readily available in the Middle East back in the day; it was anything based off of durum wheat, mostly, such as semolina (not Italian style) or farina, hence why a lot of baking doesn't include flour, and if it does, it's typically coarse or any sort of pure grain or nut milled flour. We rely mostly on filo pastry and sugar syrups for desserts. Its history of pastry is unclear, but many relate its origins to Ancient Greece, which could make sense, considering. Many historians cite that the origin is not definite, but rather the dough has been an evolution over centuries. All Purpose flour came much later into the picture, but even now, it takes its evolution from Western based recipes, such as the tiered and sheet pan cakes, and adding Middle Eastern nuances with flavorings like rose water, cardamom, or pistachio. The spice and flavoring list is endless for us. We also love sweet. Obscenely sweet. As you can tell with the amount of sugar syrups present in our desserts.

This dessert is rather simple to your surprise. Though our presentations and pastries do look complex, their methods are actual pretty straightforward and don't use a ton of ingredients. It's all about tactic and technique. There is a lot of complexity in the rolling or shaping process, but this semolina cake allows to remove all of those complications and take pleasure in whipping something up for your friends and family or yourself in less than 30mins.

You are in control of how sweet you want to make this dessert, but the more syrup, the better. This cake is about the sugar. It shouldn't be bitter or dry, and the more syrup, the more it soaks for that sweet moistness, is what will give you the perfect bite, that is soft and grainy. If you let it soak overnight, before digging in, then it is mastery. It's all about the slight juice trickling down your fingers when you're taking that bite. That way you know you've got a good one. Over time, the cake will become a little drier, but the sweetness will remain, making it just as tasty. This recipe is extremely simple, but the baking time is what will quickly take you from the perfect cake to an over done one. You must keep your eye on the oven, and air on the side of a shorter baking time first, slowly increasing it after each check. It's one of those desserts that if it's over cooked it would be an upset. You can easily get away with slightly over browned breads or cakes, because they are either tastier, crunchier, which is at times better, or they can be masked with icing and mistakes can easily be fixed. With this cake in particular, the only thing hiding it is the syrup, a translucent trickle that quickly gets soaked up, no longer masking the cake. The over done-ness can be covered up, perhaps with icing sugar or shredded coconut, but most recipes don't call for that as it isn't part of the tradition for all, so I'd never want to mix up my flavors.

Depending on how well done you like your sweet dessert, just keep your eye on the prize - it takes seconds to go from great to straight up ugh.