User:Tarek lb/Tcharek Msaker (Algerian pastry)

The tcharek msaker (from the Arabic qarn eghzel), or tcharek or tcharak (which means "croissant"), are Algerian pastries in the shape of croissants, almond-based.

Tcharek Msaker
Tcharak msaker.
Other name(s)	Tcharek
Place of origin	Algiers (Algeria)

Origin and etymology

Tcharek Msaker

This pastry finds its origin in the ramparts of the city of Algiers.

Varieties

Algeria has several varieties of gazelle horns, including the most famous:

• tcharak msaker (meaning in Algerian Arabic "tcharak sprinkled with sugar"), a specialty that is made mainly with almond paste, flavored with orange blossom water and, as its name suggests, sprinkled with powdered sugar;
• tcharak el ariane (meaning in Algerian Arabic "bare tcharak"), a shortbread specialty that is not decorated like other tcharak and has a particular crescent shape of pastry. However, this variety is often decorated with crushed or flaked almonds, pistachios and rarely with coconut;
• glazed tcharek, a speciality that remains close to the other tcharak, but the decoration is more aesthetic. After cooking, this gazelle horn immediately receives a colored and fruity glaze. We sometimes discover very original decorations and glazes of all colors, shapes or patterns (flowers, sequins, ribbons ...);
• tcharek maasel (means in Algerian Arabic "tcharak of honey"), as its name indicates it, this variety is plunged at the end of cooking in a syrup of honey scented with water of orange blossom and citrus fruits. It is distinguished by its twisted shape;
• tcharek nakache (means in Algerian Arabic "pinched tcharak"), speciality which is very often prepared on the basis of date paste as stuffing, then decorated with a dough clip giving it a decorative aspect "pinched".

Tcharek el ʿāryān topped with crushed dried fruit.

Tcharak b eṭṭalyā iced

Consommation

The tcharak is very much consumed during the religious festival of Eid el-Fitr, but also in festivals such as circumcisions, weddings, the birth of a child.