So, I was listening to a report on TV the other day about the evolution of cookies. I know, I clearly had a lot of time on my hands. Anyway, the reporter was talking about baking "fads" and how cookie pressing is a relatively new obsession people are getting into. I think these people need to do better research. Cookies "pressing" in one form or another has been around forever. Case in point, and if I do say so myself, a delightful segway to my first real attempt at Arabic baking completely by myself. I mentioned awhile back how I had made ma'moul. Well I did, I was just incredibly lazy and never got around to posting photos. I should mention that I had a great deal of phone input from my dad, but really, I kind of needed it to get the proportions right. I mean, how exactly do you follow directions that have the specificity of "some four, a couple of spoonfuls of a few spices, crush the nuts, etc.?" All without any amounts! Those Arab women, they are protective of their recipes. Well, actually, to be entirely truthful they're not, my aunts and my dad love to share how to make things, but they want you standing next to them while you learn, showing you what "some flour" and "add al'tahi to taste" mean. Ha. How my father learned how to cook anything is amazing, his attention span is not that long.
Anyway, cookie pressing. Ma'moul is delicious, it's a semolina-based filled cookie. You fill the cookie with one of three fillings: walnut, pistachio or date, along with sugar and spices. We go with walnut or pistachio whenever we make it as dates are not always well received by our American friends. Ma'moul is really tasty and, I've discovered, equally fun to make. You squish out some of the semolina dough, fit it into the mold, add a spoonful of filling, and press the dough over the top. Hit the mold hard and the cookie pops out. You look like a master and really it's the press that's done all the work. Over the years I've taken out various levels of frustration by beating the crap out of the wooden molds you use to form the dough. So yeah, that reporter who said cookie pressing is a new fad. You're an idiot.
