كرابيج

Arabic

Etymology

For the first sense (and possibly the third), the plural of كُرْبَاج (kurbāj, “whip”). For the second sense: Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish كرپیچ (kerpiç, “unbaked brick”), comparing the raw state of bricks to this pastry.

Noun

Karabij with cream in Lebanon (front plate)

Fried Karabij Halab in Palestine

كَرَابِيج • (karābīj) f pl

1. plural of كُرْبَاج (kurbāj): whips, lashes
2. (Syria) Hard, plum-sized cookies, normally made with semolina and nuts
3. (Palestine, Jordan) Pastries consisting of fried strips of dough that are soaked in syrup, usually crispy on the outside and soft and wet on the inside

   Synonym: كَرَابِيج حَلَب (karābīj ḥalab)

References

• Khayr al-Din al-Asadi (1981) “الكَربيج”, in موسوعة حلب المقارنة, volume 6, page 335
• Wehr, Hans (1979) “كرابيج”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN, page 959