Masyaf Ma’jouka (lamb pie)

Ma’jouka is a baked meat pie from Masyaf, west of Hama, and Salamiyah, to its east. Minced lamb and tail fat are braided into lahm bi-ajeen dough, and another layer of filling is spread on top. It comes out about 30 cm across and double-thick, and one is enough for one person. In Masyaf it is breakfast, the iftar meal in Ramadan, and what guests are offered at Eid.

Is it the same as the ma’jouka of Homs?

No. The same name covers at least three different things in Syria: a sweet in Homs from the halawet el-jibn family, a minced-meat dish linked to Aleppo, and the Masyaf and Salamiyah pie described here. If the name comes without “meat” or “Masyaf” attached, it is worth asking which one is meant.

What goes into the filling

Fatty minced lamb, in the past from the Awassi sheep. A baker in Masyaf says beef or any other meat does not belong. Tail fat is essential; without it the pie turns out dry. According to a 2008 eSyria article, one pie takes about 150 grams of meat and a piece of tail fat. Finely chopped green and red peppers, parsley, salt and spices go into the filling, with onion and chilli if you like. In Salamiyah the meat is cut into pieces the size of a chickpea.

Why it has two layers

The dough is made from flour, water and yeast and rests in a warm place for about an hour. Palm-sized balls are rolled out and a bowl of filling goes in the middle. The dough is split, twisted like a bracelet and braided, so meat and dough are worked into each other. That gives the pie its name: ma’jouka means “kneaded together”. The braided dough is rolled back into a disc and another layer of filling is spread on top. The result is a pie thicker than 1 cm and about 30 cm across.

Where it is baked

Women once baked it in a clay tannour oven; today it goes to the neighbourhood bakery. At Eid, families prepare the filling at home and take it to the oven. It bakes over strong heat, and those who like it crisp leave it in a little longer. Butcher-bakers sell it too.

Who eats it, and when

In Masyaf it is breakfast for office and manual workers, held in the hand and eaten on the move. It appears at iftar in Ramadan, and at Eid because of the custom of offering meat to guests. It is sent as provisions to children studying in another city or doing military service. In Salamiyah in the 1990s it was the university student’s food for the road. As meat grew expensive, a chicken version became common in Salamiyah.

How it differs from sfiha and sambousek

In sfiha, minced meat is spread over a single thin layer of dough. In ma’jouka the dough is doubled and part of the filling is braided inside it, so the pie is larger and thicker. Sambousek is a small pastry that carries its meat inside a sealed half-moon.