Qorban (Holy Bread)
I lost my father on August 14. It’s been hard to accept that he is no longer here with us. Grief has a way of arriving in waves - sometimes quiet, sometimes overwhelming. I have learned that talking about your lost ones and sharing their stories help ease the heaviness in one’s heart.
Every memory spoken out loud feels like a way of keeping him close and of remembering his kindness, simplicity and love.
Baba always found joy in simple little things - sipping a cup of turkish coffee with mama or a friend, spending time with grandkids, savouring a cone of Arabic ice cream or nibbling on a piece of bread or kaak.
Since I was a child, I remember him coming back home on Sundays after having attended mass, a funeral or any religious event, with a piece of qurban, a type of bread baked for religious occasions and shared with family, friends, and neighbours.
He would offer us some then would keep munching on whatever was left over with such contentment, as if life didn’t need extravagance, just simple moments like this. Till his last days, he kept asking for this bread, and slowly enjoyed every bite of it with such gratitude.
Now as I prepare qorban myself, I see him sitting at the kitchen table smiling at life’s simple joys.
Qorban (Holy Bread)
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 4 pieces of mastic
- 1 tbsp ground Mahlab (found in Middle Eastern groceries)
- 3 1/2 cups all- purpose flour
- 1 tsp instant dried yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp orange blossom water
- 1 1/4 cups water
Instructions
- Pound the sugar and the mastic together in a pestle and mortar until powdered.
- Sift together with the Mahlab.
- In a large bowl l, combine all the ingredients and knead until a dough comes together. Cover and set aside to rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 C).
- Scrape the dough from the sides of the bowl, turn out onto a floured surface and divide in half.
- Roll each half into a ball, dust with flour and place on a baking sheet big enough to fit both dough balls after they rise some more.
- Dust the tops with more flour, cover with a clean towel and leave to rise for another 15 minutes.
- With your floured fingers, poke 5 holes into the dough forming the shape that the number 5 does on dice.
- Bake in the heated oven for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
- Serve immediately or store in a plastic bag for up to 4 days or freeze for up to a month.
