Sweet shops and bakeries are doing brisk business as people line up to get special sweets on their dining tables during the Holy Month of Ramadan.
Iftar tables must include delicious dishes and sweets that make up the spirit of Ramadan which some call the “festival of sweets”.
In Doha, the bakeries prominently sell qatayef dough, which is prepared later at home to be served right after iftar. People are waiting in queues for more than half an hour in some cases just to get the “qatayef” dough.
Tamer Smadi, one of the customers waiting in the queue to buy sweets, said he never missed any occasion of Ramadan without having qatayef on iftar table. “It is a very special dish back in my home country and we only eat that during the Ramadan. So, it is very important for me to complete the Ramadan settings for my family with qatayef to feel like home,” he told QT.
Qatayef or qadayef are well known in the Middle East, Egypt and Turkey for many centuries and the dough recipe is almost the same everywhere, but each culture have their own touch.
“We have made this stand and extended our bakery’s capacity with an outdoor tent, especially for this very unique occasion of Ramadan which we do every year to meet the demands of increasing number of customers daily,” said Saied, a baker while preparing the qatayef dough.
“Although its too hot for us to work during Ramadan outdoors but the increasing demand obliges us to find alternatives and most importantly the decorations of Ramadan,” he added.
Other bakeries specialised in different Ramadan sweets of other cultures such as the Pakistani cuisine.
Crowds gathered on the doors of these bakeries to buy jalebis and kalakand which are popular Indian and Pakistani desserts usually consumed during the holy month of Ramadan. Sajjad Ali, a Pakistani expatriate, said preparing these sweets at home is a tradition in his family. “We would love to prepare Ramadan dishes at home but because I and my wife are both working here, we don’t have time to prepare them at home and they are very popular here in most bakeries too,” he said.
Share This Post
