Yoyos with Orange Blossom Water
Small ring-shaped fritters, fried then soaked in a syrup perfumed with orange blossom water. Tender, golden, sweet and floral. They were piled into pyramids for holidays and offered to loved ones.
Small ring-shaped fritters, fried then soaked in a syrup perfumed with orange blossom water. Tender, golden, sweet and floral. They were piled into pyramids for holidays and offered to loved ones.
The scent of orange blossom is my entire childhood. For the holidays, we would shape these little rings of dough, drop them into hot oil where they would swirl and turn golden, then hop, into the warm syrup where they drank the perfume of the orange trees. We'd pile a mountain on a tray and take some to the neighbors — for a holiday not shared is no holiday at all. Dip them just enough: they must stay soft, not soggy.
- •Flour — enough for the dough (base of the fritters)
- •Eggs — a few (binder and softness)
- •Yeast — a little (lightness)
- •Orange blossom water — generous (signature fragrance)
- •Sugar or honey — for the syrup (coating syrup)
- •Frying oil — a bath (cooking)
Yoyos with Orange Blossom Water
Small ring-shaped fritters, fried then soaked in a syrup perfumed with orange blossom water. Tender, golden, sweet and floral. They were piled into pyramids for holidays and offered to loved ones.
Why this dish? Yoyos, fritters scented with orange blossom water, were the sweets of holidays in Jewish families of Tunisia. Orange blossom resonates with the title of Gisèle Halimi's autobiography, *Le lait de l'oranger*, and with the gardens of her Tunisian childhood.
The scent of orange blossom is my entire childhood. For the holidays, we would shape these little rings of dough, drop them into hot oil where they would swirl and turn golden, then hop, into the warm syrup where they drank the perfume of the orange trees. We'd pile a mountain on a tray and take some to the neighbors — for a holiday not shared is no holiday at all. Dip them just enough: they must stay soft, not soggy.
Ingredients (period version)
- Flour — enough for the dough (base of the fritters)
- Eggs — a few (binder and softness)
- Yeast — a little (lightness)
- Orange blossom water — generous (signature fragrance)
- Sugar or honey — for the syrup (coating syrup)
- Frying oil — a bath (cooking)
Ingredients
- Flour — 300 g (base)
- Eggs — 2 (binder)
- Baker's yeast — 1 packet (or 10 g fresh) (lightness)
- Sugar — 2 tbsp (dough) + 250 g (syrup) (sweetening)
- Orange blossom water — 2 tbsp (dough) + 2 tbsp (syrup) (fragrance)
- Water — 200 ml for the syrup (syrup)
- Lemon juice — a few drops (syrup balance)
- Neutral oil for frying — 1 bath (cooking)
Method
- Mix flour, yeast, sugar, eggs and orange blossom water; knead into a soft dough. Let rise for 1 hour.
- Prepare the syrup: simmer water, sugar and lemon juice for 10 minutes; off the heat, add orange blossom water. Let cool to lukewarm.
- Shape small ropes of dough and close them into rings.
- Heat oil to 170°C and fry the rings until golden and puffed. Drain.
- Plunge the still-hot fritters into the lukewarm syrup for a few seconds, then drain on a rack.
- Arrange in a pyramid and let the syrup set slightly before serving.
How it was made : Fried pastries soaked in syrup (yoyos, debla, makroud el-louse) marked the holidays in both Jewish and Muslim Tunisia. Orange blossom water, distilled from bitter orange flowers, was the quintessential festive fragrance and was carefully kept in a bottle.
The contemporary twist : Sprinkle the yoyos with crushed pistachios and a veil of orange zest, and present them in a crown for a luminous festive dessert.
Sources : Jewish-Tunisian festive pastries (yoyos, syrup fritters) · Gisèle Halimi, Le lait de l'oranger, Gallimard, 1988
Gisèle Halimi · Charactorium
