Burbara

A sweet tied to a single night of the year. Wheat and maize are boiled, sugar goes in, and pomegranate seeds and nuts are scattered over. The bowl counts as a sweet rather than a meal, and it is not served at the end of a table but handed to whoever comes to the door.

Which day

The feast of Saint Barbara. Churches on the Western calendar keep it on 4 December and those on the Eastern calendar on 17 December, while in the Damascus region the celebration usually falls on the evenings of 3 and 4 December. Because two calendars run side by side in Syria, the same feast can meet you on two different dates. The calendar page in this section covers that doubling.

What happens in the street

In the evening children and young people put on costumes and knock at the doors of neighbours, relatives and friends; they give the greeting at the door and are handed sweets in return. It works rather like Eid money, except that a plate goes round instead of cash. On the same evening hymns and songs are sung in the village squares.

What this means for a traveller: if you see a crowd of costumed children on the street in early December on the coast or in a Christian quarter, this is not a carnival but the feast. Handing sweets at the door is expected, and watching raises no eyebrows.

Where to find it

This is not a sweet shop item but a bowl cooked at home. On the coast around Tartus and Latakia, in Damascus around Bab Touma and Qassaa, in Homs and the Valley of the Christians, and in Maaloula and the villages of Qalamoun — wherever Christian communities live.

If you are staying in one of those places in early December, it will very likely arrive at your door. The rule that a plate never goes back empty holds here too: put something small on it before you return it.