Assida Zgougou — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A rich, earthy pudding made from ground Aleppo pine seeds topped with white custard cream and decorated with nuts, a Mawlid celebration specialty.

Ingredients

1 Soak pine seeds overnight, then drain and blend into a fine paste with water. Strain through a fine sieve twice.
2 Cook the strained pine seed liquid with sugar and flour over medium heat, stirring constantly for twenty minutes.
3 Continue stirring until the mixture becomes very thick and pulls away from the sides of the pot cleanly.
4 Pour the dark pine base into individual shallow bowls and let cool completely until set and firm to the touch.
5 Make the white cream topping by cooking milk with cornstarch and sugar until thick, then add rose water.
6 Pour white cream over the set pine base and decorate elaborately with almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, and dragees.

Did You Know?

Assida zgougou is so associated with the Prophet's birthday that pine seed prices spike every year before Mawlid.