zlabia زلابية
Tunisian Derja · noun
“zlabia” (زلابية) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning fried honey-soaked pastry.
Meanings
- fried honey-soaked pastry
Usage
Zlabia refers to a fried pastry shaped like a spiral or lattice, soaked in honey syrup. It is especially associated with Ramadan, when it is bought after breaking the fast. It is often served with mkharek, another honey cake, and the expression mkharek w zlabia brings the two together. The city of Béja is famous for this pastry. The word is feminine and uncountable: one says chwaya zlabia ("a bit of zlabia"). It is used everywhere, including in playful expressions about greediness.
Example
تلقاهم ياكلوا فال زلابية
tal9ahom yèklou fel zlabia
“You find them eating zlabia.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “zlabia” but also “zlebya”, “zlebia”, “zlabya” and “zlabiya”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “zlabia” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “zlabia, fried honey-soaked fritter”: zlabiya in Algerian.