Handmade and heavenly
Traditional sweets are lovingly hand made by a couple of women in Limassol
Rida Adra Bendon never grows tired of baking and decorating cakes and this is evident from the moment you meet her. No wonder her enthusiasm and devotion to her trade translates into such a delicious product. As she sits in her cosy and intricately decorated shop, Rida explains how she brainstormed the idea of this bakery, Mamoulia.
Born of Lebanese diplomats, Rida travelled the world before settling in Cyprus, where she has now lived for over 20 years. She met Noulia, a Cypriot who grew up in what was Belgian Congo, in Cyprus when both of their husbands used to take them fishing off the Limassol coast. They soon became friends and things progressed from fresh octopus to desserts.
Rida used to bake at home before deciding to sell her creations commercially. In fact, her home-made mamouls (small middle-eastern shortbread cookies) were praised among her friends for being the most delicious they had ever tasted. Small wonder then that she woke up one morning, called her dear friend Noulia and told her, “Come on, we’re going to shop for pastry machines… we’re opening a mamoul shop together!” It was all uphill from there – Rida and Noulia found a location and got started with setting up Mamoulia, the quaint sweet shop, now in its new location, tucked into the corner of a side street in Limassol.
Mamoulia caters mainly for weddings, where mamouls replace the commonly known Cypriot loukoumia. In fact, the two are closely related, the only difference, according to Rida, being that loukoumia tend to have less filling, thicker pastry and more sugar coating. While Cypriots are accustomed to giving out loukoumia – and therefore mamouls – at weddings, Lebanese Christians traditionally give out little packets of sugar covered almonds at weddings, and instead serve mamouls at Easter.
The minute Rida handed me a hairnet as I entered the premises, I knew this was a clean and ordered place. Leading off the white, bright and spacious kitchen there there is a ‘cold’ room (like an old-fashioned pantry) filled with all sorts of stock, a larger storage room dedicated to packaging and an air-conditioned chocolate room filled with mini-molds, where Rida creates her own chocolates.
I was welcomed into the working space, where the ladies were kneading the dough, chatting away together in their native French. Rida would not disclose the exact ingredients to the dough or filling but I did detect the scent of blossom water in the mixture. She did stress however, how everything she makes is original, traditional and old-fashioned.
The two old friends roll the dough by hand, stuffing a generous amount of filling inside. Rida’s filling of choice for weddings is a kneaded mixture of pistachio and sugar, although other traditional date and walnut fillings are used at Christmas. Everything is hand-made with local ingredients, and preservative free – nonetheless, mamouls can last for several months in a cool dry place.
The next stage is pressing the rolls of dough, again by hand, into a variety of different sized wooden molds, then extracting them and laying them out on a tray, ready for baking. Afterwards, once the pastries have cooled down, they are dusted with sugar and packaged into either separate wraps for individual handouts at weddings, or smaller sized ones are placed into elegant gold or silver boxes ready to take home (a 1 kilo gift-box is €18). It’s really as simple as that, but with Cypriot weddings requiring thousands, it is nevertheless a lot of work. In fact, when it comes to weddings, Rida says the bride and groom’s families often come over to the store and help with the packaging and decorating.
Easter, a time when mamouls are traditionally served, brings in its fair share of business, but it is the wedding season, which comes to life after Easter, when the store is busiest. She already sends cakes to England, but hopes to expand her business soon by opening a store in Greece, as she already caters to many weddings there. Rida is also famous for her Christmas cakes, large and mini-sized, all beautifully decorated in cololurful icing and designs shaped in marzipan. Apart from mamouls and special occasion cakes, Mamoulia offers Cypriot savouries, Lebanese sweets, international desserts and a selection of champagnes, wines, pat?s and foie gras brought directly from France.
I sampled some of Rida’s creations, accepting the challenge to finish off an entire imperial sized mamoul (the largest of three sizes available) in one go – it was as large and filling as it was satisfying! Even if you’re not planning to tie the knot anytime soon or looking for something sweet to share with family at Easter, it is worth giving Rida a call. Whatever your mood or taste may be, I am sure she can bake you something home-made and heavenly to indulge in.
Mamoulia
4 Dimokritou Street, Limassol. Tel: 25 359050
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Nathalie J. Kyrou © 2008
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