Semolina cake at nazareth Sweets

The lovely Donna and I found ourselves on Kedzie, near Lawrence this past Sunday. After finding Semeramis closed, we had a nice default lunch at Salam.

I was craving something sweet and we went next door into Nazareth Sweets, which VI and others have often raved about. Along with many other items we tried the semolina cake, (one of Antonius' favorite sweets)which is now my favorite sweet in Chicago (just ahead of the peach cobbler at Pearl's Place and the apple fritter at Old Fashioned).

I'm crazy about the smooth, yet slightly granular cake, which not being sweet enough on it's own, is soaked in a honey/sugary syrup. That slight crunch of the semolina between the teeth is fantastic.

Evil Ronnie wrote:I was craving something sweet and we went next door into Nazareth Sweets, which VI and others have often raved about. Along with many other items we tried the semolina cake, (one of Antonius' favorite sweets)which is now my favorite sweet in Chicago (just ahead of the peach cobbler at Pearl's Place and the apple fritter at Old Fashioned).

I'm crazy about the smooth, yet slightly granular cake, which not being sweet enough on it's own, is soaked in a honey/sugary syrup. That slight crunch of the semolina between the teeth is fantastic.

ER,

Funny you should write this, for just a week or so ago, in the wake of Ann Fisher's post on the Arab stall at the farmers' market and the picture of ma9mool... that picture set me to craving Middle Eastern sweets and I remember saying to Amata "boy, I love ma9mool, even more than baklava and that, but you know, what I really crave are those damn semolina cakes; I think they're just about my favourite sweet"... They are so simple and so damn good.

Time to visit Al Aurans...

Antonius

The semolina bars are my favorite too, especially with almonds or pine nuts on top. In lebanon they call them hrisseh or more commonly nammoura and they put rosewater in the sugar water. The sweets store next to Salam on Kedzie makes a good variety.
Elie

I like this place quite a bit as well, and posted on it here and chowhound under its previous name (though I think managment is the same)

A couple of my favorites are the koulaj (kind of a flaky trunover filled with farmer cheese, as well as little caramel balls they sometimes have, which are actually a brazilian thing, but the proprietor once pressed them on me, and I was pretty happy they did

LTHForum,

If Evil Ronnie endorses a dessert this highly, you should make it your mission to eat whatever he's talking about. After I read his post, the semolina cakes rocketed to the top of my "things to taste" list.

After a delightful light lunch of chicken shwarema with fattoush and sumac fries at Semiramis today, I stopped into Nazareth Sweets to take home some semolina cakes and a few other goodies.



These are excellent cakes. Just as E.R. said, they are smooth but slightly granular. The combination of nuttiness from the cooked flour and sweetness from the honey gives it a very nice flavor, almost reminiscent of maple. A cup of tea and a semolina cake from Nazareth would be an excellent finish to any meal.

Best,
Michael

Evil Ronnie wrote:I'm crazy about the smooth, yet slightly granular cake, which not being sweet enough on it's own, is soaked in a honey/sugary syrup. That slight crunch of the semolina between the teeth is fantastic.

Evil,

Add me to the growing list of those enamored with Nazareth Sweets semolina cake.


Michael M, Steve Z and I went after lunch at Taqueria El Gallo Bravo and they were just coming out of the oven. The warm semolina cakes had an amazingly light quality to them, Michael said hot they were more liquid than room temp and, if possible, tasted even better.

Khalil, the owner, was nice enough to let me use the bathroom in the back of the bakery, affording me a look at some of the cool bakers tools in the compact, and clean as a whistle, work area.

Khalil (L) and two assistants.


For example this large heated disk where they make filo.


Only thing was they immediately put me to work.


Nazareth is next door toSalam, one of my favorite places for Middle Eastern, and I've been to the bakery a few times over the years, though in general I am not a fan of honey sweet taste, the semolina cake is terrific, not over sweet, really very good, though lets not get crazy and say it's better than an Old Fashioned Donut Apple Fritter.

Nazareth Sweets is a great bakery, clean, friendly, reasonable prices, and Evil Ronnie recommended.



Enjoy,
Gary

Nazareth Sweets
4638 N Kedzie
Chicago, IL 60625
773-463-2457

After hearing about the philo making apparatus in the back of Nazareth Sweets, on the way home I had the thought to talk to Khalil next time I am there to see if he will sell raw philo. I'll bet the Chow Poodle's fabulous spanakopita would be even more fabulous if made with fresh philo. Finding a bakery that makes its own philo is a huge rarity these days.

Another tip of the hat to the semolina cakes at Nazareth, which nicely countered my careless ordering at Salam.

A very good sweet shop in general, I must say. I quite prefer it (or have) to Al-Khayam for sweets. Quite interesting, in Kansas City this past weekend, I noticed for sale at Al Habashi in City Market pastries from Feyrous, just a few blocks both from Nazareth Sweets and my front door. Crazy that I can drive 530 miles to pick up baklava baked a week ago and two blocks from my house. I didn't, though. Pick it up, that is. Seemed like a nice shop though.

In lebanon they call them hrisseh or more commonly nammoura and they put rosewater in the sugar water.

I'm used to orange blossom water, which seems to be a bit more common than rose water (although the difference may be geographical). FWIW, entirely by happenstance, I have been trying different recipes for nammoura lately. If you're interested, PM me and I'll be happy to share some of the versions. It's remarkably easy to make. Bad thing, that.

These semolina cakes are my favorite thing at the moment, however can anyone tell me how bad they are for you? I tried to look up a recipe online and basically it said each one of these are like 500 calories each, that can't be correct right? ARRGH!
Also, are there any other places that sell a semolina cake that can rival the ones at N S?
Thanks.