Koloocheh or Kleicha ( Persian: کلوچه), also known as Persian New Year Bread, is a Persian stamped cookie or bread, originating in various parts of Iran. There are many variations on the recipe (bready-texture vs. crispy; and stuffed vs. unstuffed) which spans from the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...

to various

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

communities including in Eastern Europe, and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

About

Typically koloocheh are cookies filled with dates and walnuts, but can be stuffed with grated coconut and additionally spiced with saffron, rose water, cardamom, cinnamon, or citrus zest. The recipe for Caspian cuisine-style bready koloocheh cookie can be made vegan by replacing butter with coconut oil. It is a recipe made by Persian Jews during the holiday Purim; by Christians during Easter; and Muslims during

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

. For Norooz (English: Persian New Year), Iranians will make a koloocheh bread. Koloocheh cookies from Southern Iran are brittle

biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be ...

s that principally consists of water,

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 ...

, wheat flour and egg white. File:Fresh Cookies for Sale - Punel - Caspian Seacoast - Northwestern Iran (7418502512).jpg, Traditional cookie making in

Punel Punel ( fa, پونل, also Romanized as Pūnel; also known as Pūnīl) is a village in Khoshabar Rural District, in the Central District of Rezvanshahr County, Gilan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, ...

village File:Fuman Koloocheh.jpg, Renowned thin Koloocheh from Fuman, Iran prior to cooking

Etymology

From Middle Persian ook Pahlavi needed/small> (kwlʾck' /kulāčag/, “small, round bun”)

References

Cookies Culture in Shiraz Iranian pastries Iraqi cuisine Saudi Arabian cuisine Talysh cuisine Vegan cuisine {{iran-cuisine-stub

About

Etymology

See also

References