mkharek مخارق
Tunisian Derja · noun
“mkharek” (مخارق) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning fried honey-soaked pastries.
Meanings
- fried honey-soaked pastries
Usage
Mkharek are fried pastries shaped like sticks, soaked in honey or syrup. They are a popular Ramadan sweet, almost always paired with zlabia: the two are bought together at the pastry shop after breaking the fast. The word is used as a collective, for example "chwaya mkharek" (a few mkharek) or "kilo mkharek". There is no exact English equivalent, so the Tunisian word is kept, optionally with a gloss such as "honey fritters".
Example
في رمضان نشريو الزلابية والمخارق
fi romdhan nechriw ezzlebia wel mkharek
“During Ramadan, we buy zlabia and mkharek.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mkharek” but also “mkhareq”, “makharek”, “m5arek” and “mkhareg”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.