Boulis Cafe

Famous Loukoumades: : Loukoumades are a kind of fried-dough pastry made of deep fried dough soaked in sugar syrup or honey and cinnamon, and sometimes sprinkled with sesame. In Greece, loukoumades are commonly spiced with cinnamon in a honey syrup and can be sprinkled lightly with powdered sugar. In ancient Greece, these deep fried dough balls were served to the winners of the Greek Olympics. The Greek poet Callimachus was the first to state that these deep fried dough balls were soaked in honey and then served to the winners as "honey tokens". The pastry is called zvingoi by the Greek Jews, who make them as Hanukkah treats. It is claimed to have been originated by the Romaniotes, though the name derives from medieval German swinge. A similar dish is also found in Italy as sfingi di San Giuseppe. Various other kinds of fried dough with syrup are found in the Mediterranean, Middle East, and South Asia, from the Italian struffoli (the most similar to loukoumades in preparation) and zeppole (more like an American cake doughnut) to the Indian and Pakistani jalebi and gulab jamun. The etymoly of the word loukoumades is Arabic (luqmat) that means 'mouthful' or 'morsel'. A version called luqmat al-qadi (judge's mouthful) was described by al-Baghdadi in the 13th century and is made in Arab countries to this day.