Loz: Middle Eastern Almond Cookies
Delicacies Made of Almond Paste and Sugar are Staples With Coffee
Almond Paste Loz are Popular in the Middle East, Where They Originated, and in Countries like Portugal and Spain, Which Had a Strong Moorish Influence.
Most people know the sweet, smooth, nutty taste of marzipan, an almond delicacy usually associated with Austria or Germany. But there is a Middle Eastern variant of this rich almond paste that is probably much older, dating back before anyone ever kept recipes books. There are countless regional, local and even family variants for making almond paste sweets. But most are really quite simple, once you get the almonds ground.
Traditionally, almonds were ground by a very simple milling process, similar to that used for grinding mustard seed and wheat. The process employed two large grinding stones. The lower one was fastened securely in place and the upper one was left floating on top, tired to a sturdy wooden arm that was, in turn, hitched to a donkey or small horse. Whole almonds – dried, but not necessarily roasted – would be placed on the bottom stone. The top stone would form the top of this “sandwich” and the long-suffering animal would then be encouraged to simply walk around the milling frame, turning the upper stone and grind the nuts into an oily paste.
The paste was then mixed with orange blossom or rose water and a great deal of sugar and kneaded into a tight loaf resembling a heavy sheet cake. This loaf would then be cut into small diamond shaped pastries, dusted with more sugar and decorated with whole pistachio, pine nuts, whole almond halves or even candied fruit and served with Turkish coffee or minted tea in the late afternoon.
Some Arab cultures call these small sweets “loz,” and the English word “lozenge” is supposedly derived from them, as they were introduced into Europe during the Moorish Invasions and later Crusades. Today, they are also as popular in Portugal and Spain, as they are throughout the Middle East.
Loz Recipe:
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup ground almond (food processors or even clean coffee grinders work pretty well, assuming you don’t have two mill stones and a donkey handy…)
- ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 4-5 tablespoons of either orange or rose water
- Additional confectioners’ sugar and whole pistachios, almond halves, pine nuts or candied fruit for decoration.
Preparation:
- Mix the ground almonds, confectioners’ sugar and orange (or rose) water into a stiff paste and knead until it is very smooth.
- Press the kneaded paste in a flat square pan that has been lined with parchment paper (for easier extraction later) and let the paste rest for 10 minutes to a half hour.
- Dump the paste out of the pan onto a hard surface (board or countertop) and carefully remove the parchment paper from it.
- Slice diagonally across the paste to form small, bite-sized diamonds (or lozenges).
- Take each one of these small loz, roll them gently in more confectioners’ sugar and decorate the top of each with the nuts or candied fruit.
Loz keeps in the refrigerator, tightly sealed, for about a week – though they rarely last that long!
Read my Blog about Almonds and Middle Eastern Folklore!
For another great sweet to serve with Turkish Coffee, check out Lokom!
