Qurabiya, Azerbaijani: قورابیه Qurabiyə , Arabic: غرّيبة, Turkish: Kurabiye, Greek: κουραμπιές is a shortbread-type biscuit usually made with ground almonds.
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Cookies appear to have their origins in 7th century Persia, shortly after the use of sugar became relatively common in the region.[1]
Qurabiya cookies are said to originate in the Iranian Azerbaijani city of Tabriz, the provincial capital of the East Azerbaijan province.
In Tabriz, they are made of almond flour, sugar, egg white, vanilla, margarine and pistachio. It is served with tea, customarily placed on top of the teacup to make it soft before eating.
Kourabiedes or Kourabiethes (Greek: κουραμπιέδες) resemble a light shortbread, typically made with almonds. Kourabiedes are sometimes made with brandy, usually Metaxa, for flavouring, though vanilla, mastika or rose water are also popular.
In some regions of Greece, Christmas kourabiedes are adorned with a single whole spice clove embedded in each biscuit.[2]
Kourabiedes are shaped either into crescents or balls, then baked till slightly golden. After they cool, they are usually rolled in icing sugar.[3]
Kourabiedes are especially popular for special occasions, such as Christmas or baptisms (christenings).
The Kavala Cookie(Kavala Kourabiedes) is made of flour, almond, butter, vanilla, and sugar. Nea Karvali is very popular for its “kourampiedes”, a traditional sweet. [4]
A polvorón, from the Spanish word for dust, (Cebuano: polboron; Tagalog: pulburon) is a type of Andalusian shortbread popular in Spain and Latin America and other ex-Spanish colonies such as the Philippines during Christmas. Polvorones are made of flour, sugar, milk, and nuts, but they also include pig fat. They were traditionally produced for the Christmas season from September to January but are now often available year round. There are about 70 factories in Andalusia that are part of a syndicate that produce polvorones and mantecados.[5]
In Mexico, these are traditionally served at weddings and celebrations. The cookies themselves are small rolls usually made with pecans. They are known in the United States as Mexican wedding cookies.
In the Philippines, a number of local variants on the traditional polvorón recipe have been made. Well known variants include polvorón with casuy (cashew), and polvorón with pinipig (beaten young green rice). There's even strawberry, chocolate and cookies-and-cream polvorón.
Mantecado is a Spanish shortbread, very similar to polvorón. The name mantecado comes from manteca de cerdo iberico (fat of Iberian pig) with which they are made. These days there are options different from animal fat, like polvorón and mantecado made with olive oil.
Sometimes called Pan de Polvo, it is made with anise in the south Texas region.
Kourambiedes (Greek Christmas Biscuits)