Hyderabad: Marie Antoinette last French Queen maligned for her often-cited remark “qu’ils mangent de la brioche,” (let them eat cake) that historians say was wrongly pinned on her, was fond of a buttery flaked puffy pastry called Croissant. And not finding it at her husband Louis XV1’s dining tables she sent a request to her parents in Austria, Queen Marias Theresa and King Francis 1 to send a Royal Viennese chef to the Versailles Royal Kitchen to prepare her favorite bread she was habituated since childhood.
Well not so with my neighbors’ daughters recently returned home from Saudi Arabia, where they were born and brought up. Missing their favorite foods of the Arabian Gulf began trying out recipes they were missing instead of pleading and requesting friends and relatives arriving from Saudi Arabia to carry their favorite eatables. The three of them all in teens setting up a sort of cloud kitchen worked successfully at churning out a popular sweet of the Middle East and the Gulf Arab countries, Bas Bousa, which they relished and missed a lot. And beyond the sweet tooth bug, they have started marketing Bas Bousa successfully.
Sweet waft would prevail all over four floors
All the while as the baking experimenting was going on, a pleasant and sweet waft would prevail all over the four floors keeping neighbors guessing as to where the epicenter was. And hoping that the spirit of ‘love thy neighbor’ would show up soon. The cat couldn’t stay for long in the bag and one afternoon just before the advent of the holy month of Ramdhan the siblings were at my door with a red folding box with the word ‘firin’ ( Turkish meaning bakery) and catchline ‘Bas Bousa & more’ in yellow and the logo is again one of the desserts Babka they make. Inside were four square-shaped grainy-looking pieces with an almond placed in the center and traces of syrup.
And the first bite into the sweet I realized, having dined on the dessert during my decades of stay in Abu Dhabi the siblings were as good at making Bas Bousa as any bakery would in the Arab world. Perfectly balanced ingredients, measured sugar, syrup, and right bake give a lingering taste. Bas Bousa is a common sweet of the Arab world and is a delicacy that is favored a lot and is as popular as our local Ladoos or Pedas. It is an after-meal dessert, that can also go with evening tea.
Could it be the Covid ennui that the siblings took to the fancy of trying out Bas Bousa. ‘Yes’ is the answer.’ It was getting on our nerves and we thought to go for it.’ “But why the Arabic dessert”? Hyderabad has plenty of home kitchens, home bakers, dark kitchens, dishing out brownies, pastries, cakes and Gateaus, cookies, so we thought of something out of the box like Bas Bousa, Babka, Sambali, Tulumba and Revani and others though available in a couple of commercial outlets in the city but not so caressingly prepared as is usually done in home kitchens. The pricing is also homely a box of flour large pieces cost Rs 200/.
Bas Bousa
Bas Bousa is a semolina-based grainy cake with sugar, cream, and coconut. And all Arabic sweets, are semolina-based, the other ingredients mentioned may differ from country to country. The range of Arabian sweets is overwhelmingly wide, like the Mezze,(starters ) comprised of more than half a dozen dishes. Orders for the desserts can be placed at least an hour or two calling 919515360821.
| Posted by Sameer Khan | 
