Myriad treats for Ramadan by traditional confectioner

(8 Jun 2016) LEAD IN: A famous Lebanese sweet maker is working flat out to keep up with Ramadan demand. Tripoli-based Abdul Rahman Hallab and Sons produces vast quantities of traditional pastries which are eaten after sunset with the iftar meal. STORY-LINE: Sheets of dough are being transformed into baklava. Demand is high for these tasty pastry treats so confectioners at Abdul Rahman Hallab and Sons are hard at work. The sweet shop produces around 50 trays of baklava a day during Ramadan. Muslims like to eat the pastries when they break their fast each night. So confectioners have to work around the clock to keep the shelves stocked. "The demand goes up for at least by 50 percent during Ramadan," says Raneem Hallab, head of the marketing and advertising and grandson of the founder of Abdul Rahman Hallab and Sons. "The production facility is open 24 hours. So it doesn't close here, they just keep working until we fill all the requirements that we need in order to meet the customer needs." Abdul Rahman Hallab and Sons was founded in 1881 with just 10 employees. Now, the company employs 700 people throughout the year and supplies sweets to 16 different branches across Lebanon and overseas. And during the Islamic holy month, traditional pastries are hugely popular. Confectioners prepare cheese knefeh, made of semolina dough, maamoul, filled with dates, and halawet al joubn, a cheese and semolina dough used in different oriental sweets. The finished products go on sale at the Hallab shop, where every customer has their favourite sweet. "We get karbouj (nut-filled maamoul eaten with cream). It's really tasty and my wife really likes them. We also get baklava and a lot of other sweets from here," says customer Ramadan Akkawi. With more than 130 years of sweet-making experience, it's the go-to place for the traditional pastries. "Everyone who comes to Tripoli comes specifically to Hallab," says Miral Sobh, another customer. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/4951028f09a2c72a84f224a5c574a8d5 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork