Melomakarona

Melomakarona

Melomakarona (plural; Greek μελομακάρονα , melomakárona ; masculine singular: μελομακάρονο, melomakárono ) are Greek Christmas cookies made from flour, olive oil and honey.

Typical ingredients for a meloma carono are flour or semolina, sugar, orange peel and / or fresh juice, cognac (or a similar drink), cinnamon and olive oil. Immediately after baking, they are dipped in cold syrup made from honey and / or sugar dissolved in water for a few seconds. Finally, they are topped with ground and larger pieces of walnut.

Variants are filling with walnuts and dipping in chocolate.

Unlike the Kourabiedes, which only came to Greece in the early 20th century, the Melomakarona are already known from Byzantine times.

Terms

The melomakarona come from the Makarona, who were once a semolina dish, later semolina cookies that were doused with honey to make the melomakarona. Ethymologically, macaroni and macarons are also derived from Makarona . The term melomakarona is used almost exclusively in the plural, the (existing) singular form is rather unusual.