Ka'ak

Lore & Background

Ka'ak is mentioned in the 10th century Kitāb al-Ṭabīkh by Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq. It is also attested to in the 13th-century Syrian cookbook Kitab al-Wuslah ila l-habib, which gives three recipes for ka'ak. It also mentions date-filled, ring-shaped ka'ak cookies. In the Levant, ka'ak is a common ring-shaped bread covered with sesame seeds, using fermented chickpeas as a leavening agent. It is widely sold by street vendors and usually eaten as a snack or for breakfast with za'atar. In Lebanon, ka'ak bread rings are made of sweet dough rolled into ropes and formed into rings, topped with sesame seeds, and after baking glazed with milk and sugar.

Reader's Guide

Ka'ak holds significance across multiple cultures and religious traditions in the Arab world and Near East. Arab Christians, primarily Palestinian and Lebanese Christians, make semolina ka'ak to celebrate Easter, often shaped as wreaths symbolizing the crown of thorns. Sweet semolina ka'ak are also a feature of the Muslim feasts of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. In Gaza, it is customary to return a neighbor's dish filled with ka'ak bi ajwa during holidays. In the Levant, ka'ak al-asfar ('the yellow roll') is made by Muslims to honor the souls of the departed, distributed to the poor, children, and relatives. A bread stamp used to imprint designs on these cakes, dating to the fourteenth or fifteenth century CE, was discovered in Palestine. In Yemen, ka'ak was the traditional pastry eaten by the Jews of Yemen during Purim. In Iran, ka'ak is baked in the Kurdish city of Kermanshah and was registered in the list of spiritual heritage of Kermanshah province in 2012. The variety of forms—from savory bread rings to sweet, date-filled cookies—reflects ka'ak's enduring role in daily life, festivals, and religious observances.

Did You Know?

• In Lebanon, ka'ak bread rings are glazed with milk and sugar after baking.
• Arab Christians make semolina ka'ak shaped as wreaths for Easter, symbolizing the crown of thorns.
• A bread stamp used to imprint ka'ak al-asfar, dating to the fourteenth or fifteenth century CE, was discovered in Palestine.

A Thousand-Year Thread: Ka'ak in Medieval Cookbooks and Archaeology

Ka'ak's written record stretches back nearly a millennium. The 10th-century cookbook Kitāb al-Ṭabīkh, authored by Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq, already references the baked good, placing it firmly within the culinary vocabulary of medieval Arab kitchens. A century and a half later, the 13th-century Syrian manuscript Kitab al-Wuslah ila l-habib dedicates three distinct recipes to ka'ak, one of which describes a date-filled, ring-shaped cookie, showing that the form was well established by that era. Physical evidence corroborates the literary record: a round bread stamp, known in Latin as a signum pistoris, was unearthed in Palestine and dates to the fourteenth or fifteenth century. Measuring nineteen centimeters in diameter, the artifact features a round handle and intricate geometric designs—the very kind of pattern traditionally pressed into ka'ak al-asfar cakes. Together, these textual and material sources confirm that ka'ak was not a fleeting novelty but a deeply rooted staple whose preparation, decoration, and gifting traditions spanned at least five centuries before the modern era.

Street Carts, Handbag Rings, and the Jerusalem Gift

In the Levant, ka'ak is inseparable from the rhythm of daily street life. In Jordan, sesame-coated rings appear in a range of shapes and sizes and often serve as the bread component of casual sandwiches. Lebanon offers a slightly different character: sweet dough is rolled into ropes, coaxed into rings, and dusted with sesame before baking. Once out of the oven, the rings are glazed with a milk-and-sugar wash and left to dry. A particularly distinctive Lebanese form is shaped into a flat ring with deliberately uneven widths, giving it a silhouette that resembles a handbag. Vendors carry these on wheeled carriages, hanging each ring from a pole through its central hole. The same bread also becomes the vessel for kaak knafeh, where a layer of knafeh is sandwiched between two pieces. Locals call it kaak alasreya or kaakit al asroniyeh, a nod to its role as an afternoon treat. In Palestinian Jerusalem, the bread takes on a gift-giving dimension: residents from Hebron to Jenin regard ka'ak al-Quds as a singular specialty, and visitors or locals alike purchase multiple loaves to share with friends and family outside the city. It is sometimes paired with oven-baked eggs and falafel.

Wreaths, Crowns of Thorns, and Bread for the Dead

Few baked goods carry as many layers of sacred meaning as ka'ak. For Arab Christians—particularly Palestinian and Lebanese communities, including those in the diaspora—semolina ka'ak shaped into wreaths is the centerpiece of Easter celebrations, its circular form evoking the crown of thorns placed on Jesus of Nazareth's head during the crucifixion. On the Muslim side, sweet semolina ka'ak appears on the tables of both Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, marking the close of Ramadan and the pilgrimage season. In the Levant, ka'ak al-asfar, a yellow bread cake stamped with elaborate geometric patterns, is prepared to honor the souls of the departed; the bereaved family distributes it along with dried fruit to the poor, to children, and to relatives on the Thursday and Monday following a death, as well as on a day called Khamis al-Amwat, or Thursday of the Dead. Palestinian Christians also bake this same bread for Easter. In Malta, Qagħaq tal-Appostli are prepared during Lent, with almonds arranged around the wreath to represent the twelve apostles. In Yemen, ka'ak was the traditional pastry eaten by the Jewish community during the feast of Purim, linking the baked good to yet another faith tradition.

From Zaghouan to Kermanshah: A Pan-Regional Flavor Map

Beyond the Levant, ka'ak branches into a remarkable spectrum of flavors and forms. In Algeria, kaak nakache are ornamented, date-filled, rose-scented almond cookie rings prepared for Eid. Iraqi bakers favor doughnut-shaped versions dusted with sesame, such as ka'ak ab sumsum, or ka'ak eem kishmish studded with raisins; a variant called ka'ak beharat oo tefach swaps apples for raisins and coats the pastry in almonds instead of sesame. Tunisia contributes ka'ak warqa, a rose-scented almond cookie from Zaghouan, alongside date-filled versions made for Eid al-Fitr. In Yemen, the traditional method calls for kneading dough with oil, battered eggs, sugar, and a sparse addition of black cumin, then brushing the risen dough with egg yolk and baking it, often finishing with a layer of clarified butter. In Syria's Idlib province, olive-oil-flavored ka'ak are a customary Eid treat. Even in Iran, the Kurdish city of Kermanshah bakes its own ka'ak, which was formally registered on the province's spiritual heritage list in 2012. Libyan cuisine includes its own salty ka'ak, and in Jerusalem the savory version is known locally as Abadi cookies.

Gallery