Damascus-SANA
In the center of old Damascus, on the road between Bab Sharqi and Souk al-Buzuriya towards the minaret of Al-Shahem, is the oldest factory of wooden cake molds, which Damascus ladies have always prided themselves on working with while making Eid sweets, having the largest and most beautiful number of them.
Maamoul molds are frequently used during the month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha due to the rituals of making sweets that are widespread these days. The old wooden mold is still the favorite tool of many families despite the spread of similar plastic molds because it gives a more beautiful shape to the disk and its dough becomes more coherent according to the opinion of a number of specialists make it.
At the door of the wooden molds factory stands 77-year-old Ayman Al-Nuwailiti, known as Abu Anas, inheriting a 150-year-old craft in the manufacture of Arab sweets tools, pointing to his attachment to this craft since his youth in the seventies of the last century and becoming a Sheikh Kar in it a father by grandfather.
In his conversation with SANA, Uncle Abu Anas recalls the tape of his memories that he collected with his father, Muhammad Al-Nuwailiti, the old Damascene man known for making a tool from the wood of sturdy apricot trees that made it easier for housewives and sweets makers to make the most beautiful shapes for cutting sweets during the holidays.
In his interview with SANA, Al-Nuwailiti mentions the stages of forming the maamoul molds that are paved in front of his shop door, which they are still making by hand, in addition to other types and forms of household necessities such as rolling pins, wooden spoons and sieves, in addition to some kitchen supplies such as garlic jars and kibbeh molds, where the manufacture of maamoul molds depends on wood. It is extracted from dry trees, but if it is green, it is exposed to boiling temperature until the water comes out of it and then spread in the air to dry well for about three months to be treated to prevent cracks inside it. Then it is placed on the so-called engineering to draw it and determine the center of the drilling and the dimensions of the mold, which vary according to the desire of customers and the fillings that are placed inside the maamoul beads.
The secret of the profession, according to Al-Nuilati, is related to the technology of the fonts and engravings that the craftsman adorns so as to prevent the dough from sticking inside the mold, using tools he made, some of them himself, and he keeps them in the drawers of his antique cupboard to carve the wood and engrave the details professionally, noting that some factories and shops that specialize in the famous Syrian sweets industry require drilling The name of the lab inside the template to become its own trademark.
The man in his seventies fears that his craft will disappear and be lost after it accompanied the Syrians for years and was associated with the requirements of their Eid. For this reason, he is keen to teach his son the origins and secrets of the profession, hoping that he will learn them to complete the handicraft journey in this field, pointing out at the same time that this industry, despite its age, is active and flourishing in all Eid due to the high demand for it.
Despite the availability of metal or plastic alternatives, Ms. Um Wasim, a housewife, feels happy when she chooses the wooden maamoul mold. She goes to Medhat Pasha's market to acquire new forms of wooden molds every year, according to her interview with SANA, stressing that making Eid maamoul with wooden molds has a special flavor.
Amani Farooj
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