Boulou, also known as boulous, is a

Libyan Jewish The history of the Jews in Libya stretches back to the 3rd century BCE, when Cyrenaica was under Greek rule. The Jewish population of Libya, a part of the Sephardi-Maghrebi Jewish community continued to populate the area continuously until the ...

sweet bread or

cake Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, ...

Maghrebi Jewish :''See Mashriqi Jews for more information about Jews in the rest of North Africa and Western Asia.'' Maghrebi Jews ( or , ''Maghrebim'') or North African Jews ( ''Yehudei Tzfon Africa'') are ethnic Jews who had traditionally lived in the Maghre ...

origin, similar to

mouna Mouna, also known as Mona, is an Algerian Jewish sweet bread of Sephardi origin, similar to challah, kubaneh or brioche, that is traditionally consumed for the Jewish holidays of Mimouna and Shabbat, which is commonly found today in France, and ...

, tishpishti, or pound cake, that is traditionally made into loaves or rolls and consumed as part of the meal preceding the

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day's ...

Fast, or as part of the

break fast A break-fast is a meal eaten after fasting. In Judaism, a break fast is the meal eaten after Ta'anit (religious days of fasting), such as Yom Kippur. During a Jewish fast, no food or drink is consumed, including bread and water. The two major fa ...

that follows. It is most commonly found today in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Boulou has a sweet taste enriched with

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

, eggs,

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

, oil, and golden raisins it often contains seeds such as

fennel Fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare'') is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized ...

sesame Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cu ...

, and

nigella seeds ''Nigella sativa'' (black caraway, also known as black cumin, nigella, kalonji or siyahdaneh) is an annual flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to eastern Europe (Bulgaria and Romania) and Western Asia (Cyprus, Turkey, Iran and Ir ...

Overview

Boulou is traditionally consumed by

Maghrebi Jews :''See Mashriqi Jews for more information about Jews in the rest of North Africa and Western Asia.'' Maghrebi Jews ( or , ''Maghrebim'') or North African Jews ( ''Yehudei Tzfon Africa'') are ethnic Jews who had traditionally lived in the Maghre ...

during the

Hebrew month The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel. I ...

Tishrei Tishrei () or Tishri (; he, ''tīšrē'' or ''tīšrī''; from Akkadian ''tašrītu'' "beginning", from ''šurrû'' "to begin") is the first month of the civil year (which starts on 1 Tishrei) and the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year ...

in the leadup to

, and as part of the Yom Kippur break fast. Boulou has a unique taste and texture that can be described as either a sweet cake-like bread or a bread-like cake, as it is close to both. It is also traditionally served for

Rosh Hashanah Rosh HaShanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, , literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , lit. "day of shouting/blasting") It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (, , " ...

. Its popularity has spread from Libyan Jewish cuisine, to Tunisian Jewish cuisine, but also to

French Jewish The history of the Jews in France deals with Jews and Jewish communities in France since at least the Early Middle Ages. France was a centre of Jewish learning in the Middle Ages, but persecution increased over time, including multiple expulsio ...

and Israeli cuisine (owing to the large population of Libyan Jews in both countries).

Tunisian Jewish version

The Tunisian Jews have their own version of boulou due to their close proximity to the Libyan Jews. This variant is uses baking powder instead of yeast as a leavened, and is similar to the Libyan Jewish boulou but with the addition of orange zest and chopped almonds.

References

{{African cuisine Yom Kippur Jewish baked goods Jewish breads Sephardi Jewish cuisine Israeli cuisine Passover Libyan Jews Jews and Judaism in Tunisia North African cuisine Tripoli, Libya Cakes