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Sambousak is a fried pastry filled with minced lamb, onion and pine nuts.

Sambousak is an important part of the Lebanese Mezze, and can be found among all the other usual suspects like kibbeh, hummus and baba ganoush at any Lebanese function or get together.

Sambousak is a huge favourite in our family, they’re usually the first to go and one or two is never enough.

Sambousak dough is made from flour, salt and oil. The dough is rolled out, cut into little circles then filled with cooked lamb, onion and pine nuts sealed in half and folded over.

Cooking instructions:

Baked: coat oil on the base of the baking tray, place frozen Sambousik on the baking tray and cover in oil. Then place in a conventional oven on 200 degrees Celsius for 20-25 mins.

Fried: Place in a frying pan for 3 mins and then flip, remove when changes to a golden colour.

History of Sambousak

Versions of Sambousak can be found in many different cultures while still keeping a name similar to its beginnings, which can be traced back to the Persian word “Sanbosag”. Some name variations are as follows; Sambousak – Arabic, Samosa – Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, Samsa – Kazakh, Samsa Boregi – Turkey, Sanbuusa – Eritreans, Ethiopians and Somalis.

Sambousak can be found in a large area which includes the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent, Central Asia, North Africa and the Horn of Africa.

Again the origins of Sambousak are unknown but it is believed that it originated in Central Asia in the 10th Century and it has been found in Arab cook books of the 10th and 13th Centuries AD under the name still used for it today in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

Considering the origins of the name being Persian and the Persian domination of the Phoenicians (Lebanese ancestors) from the 6th to the 4th century BC, this tasty meal could well and truly been consumed in the area for the last 2,500 years.

Furthermore, it could have come after that along the trade routes as it would have been easily made over the campfire during the nightly halts, then conveniently packed in to saddlebags as a hearty snack for the next day’s journey.

This recipe’s origin could be as old as the trade routes themselves, spreading high and wide throughout three continents at least a thousand years before globalisation.