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Image:Loukoumades.jpg

Loukoumas (from Turkish Lokma swallow) (pronounced lu-ku-MAS) is a popular Greek doughnut. The plural is loukoumades. It is made of deep fried dough coated with honey and cinnamon. Sesame is occasionally added, for extra flavour.

There is a Greek saying "Eisai megalos loukoumas!" ("you are a big loukoumas"), which is used when the speaker wants to offend somebody by calling him or her stupid.

Romaniotes, the part of the Jewish community in Byzantine Greece, called this pastry Zvingous or Zvingoi. The same name was probably also used by the Byzantine Greeks. Today, both Jewish communities, Romaniotes and Sephardic Jews - who immigrated to Greece five centuries ago - make these Hanukkah treats.

Similar recipes are found throughout the world; particularly in southern Italy which was settled by Greeks during ancient and medieval times.

The basic ingredients, dough and honey, are also known in the terminology of modern international cuisine as ingredients for the "sweet of the poor."

[edit] See also

• Greece
• Greek products
• Cuisine of Greece

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