Warbat


Warbat, also known as shaabiyat and Şöbiyet, is a Levantine sweet pastry similar to baklava.
Warbat consists of layers of phyllo dough filled with a semolina based custard, though it is sometimes also filled with pistachios, walnuts, almonds, or sweet cheese. The dessert is topped with a sweet syrup made from sugar, water, and lemon juice brought to a boil and then left to cool and thicken.
When served with cream or qishta it is called warbat bi-qishteh or warbat be gishta. Warbat is often served during Ramadan.
In Jordan, warbat and knafeh are often the most sold desserts for celebrations, such as tawjihi exam results.

History

The Turkish Patent and Trademark Office states that Şöbiyet have been a part of the cuisine of Gaziantep "since ancient times". According to historian Nawal Nasrallah, kaymak-filled baklava are mentioned in the 19th-century works by Ottoman author Turabi Efendi.
are mentioned as a breakfast food in Arabic Aleppan texts from 1840-1875. Late 19th-century proceedings by the International Congress of Orientalists described as a triangular cake filled with cream and pistachios. The 1885 Lebanese Arabic cookbook Ustadh al-Tabbakhin provided a recipe for which called for filling square pieces of dough with baklava filling, baking them in a samneh-coated tray, then soaking them in qatir.
Shaabiyat were popularized in Germany by refugees of the Syrian civil war.

Variations

"Lady's cheeks" is a version of warbat made from 2 circular layers of phyllo pastry around a layer of cream. This variation is popular in Nablus city.
Turkish Şöbiyet received official registration and geographical indication status from the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office on 6 April 2022 for the Gaziantep region. The patent specifies that they are made with 12 layers of phyllo pastry, a kaymak filling, and topped with syrup and pistachios. Şöbiyet are popular during Eid al-Fitr in Turkey.
Syrian shaabiyat are made into a variety of shapes besides triangles with different fillings.

Etymology

According to one account, the dessert is attributed to a confectioner named Shuʿayb, whose identity is otherwise unknown. Another explanation holds that the dessert was originally made in a large size sufficient to satisfy a person on its own, leading it to be called الشبعيّة, derived from the Arabic root ش ب ع, meaning “to be full or satiated”; the name was later phonologically altered to الشعيبيّة, with the plural form الشعيبيّات.
According to the Etymological Dictionary of Contemporary Turkish by Sevan Nişanyan, the word Şöbiyet is derived from the Arabic word.
The name warbat is derived from the warbats triangular shape, the word warbat means "corners" in Arabic.