Habboul, the steamed fig paste of Masyaf

Habboul is a paste of dried figs made in the villages around Masyaf, west of Hama, and in the neighbouring countryside west of Homs. Figs dried in summer are softened over steam, pounded inside a cloth to a dough and shaped into pieces by hand. No preservatives go in. In winter it is served with yoghurt, butter or tahini.

Where the name comes from

Producers in the Masyaf villages who spoke to SANA in 2025 say the name comes from the step at the centre of the work, tahbil: softening the dried figs over steam. The plural is habābil, and an eSyria report from 2010 calls it by that name, as the sweet of winter.

How the figs are dried

Preparation starts in August. Ripe figs are dried on rooftops or on stone drying floors called mistah. In the method eSyria recorded in Qusayr, in the Homs countryside, each fig is split from the stem end, turned inside out and laid on the stone. When it is about 80% dry it is gathered and kept in a raw cotton bag so that it does not sweat.

Steam, cloth and a mallet

The dried figs go into a perforated strainer. The strainer sits over boiling water and is covered with a cloth. The figs soften in the steam for about half an hour.

Then they are pounded inside the cloth: in the past with a mallet called a mehadde, today in an electric mill. The result has the texture of ajwa, a soft date paste. The paste is shaped into pieces by hand. It used to be decorated with bran set aside when bulgur was ground; today walnuts or almonds go inside, and sesame or coconut is scattered on top.

Whose work it is

It is family work. Sorting, pounding and shaping are done by different hands, and everyone in the house has a job. Its sister product from the same season is the fig string: figs threaded on cotton and dried in the shade. Nylon string is avoided because it makes the figs go mouldy.

The practice continues. A SANA report from the countryside west of Homs in August 2026 says figs left on the trees are still dried and turned into habboul or strings.

How it differs from fig jam

The Syrian jams entry on this site covers fig jam, which is cooked in a pot. Habboul gets its texture from steam and pounding, and its flavour from the sun-dried fig itself.

Where to find it

In home store cupboards in Masyaf and the villages around it, in the countryside west of Homs and in Qusayr. Street vendors in Homs also sell it. It is most likely to appear on a village table in the winter months.