By A box of maamoul, a Middle Eastern cookie usually filled with dates, caused panic in Pennsylvania because of the Arabic language written on the box.
In fact, a daycare nearby was evacuated and a bomb squad was called in, because, you know – foreign looking cookies are scary. A nearby gas station was evacuated, as well. The box of delicious maamoul dates were found to be all clear and were in fact, just a 12-pack box of melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness.
This little bout of paranoria reminded me of an article I wrote a couple of months ago. It was a satirical listicle on ten phrases to avoid saying (mostly Arabic words) if you don’t want to get kicked off an airplane. It was penned following incidents of Arabic-speaking people getting kicked off airplanes.
The box of delicious maamoul dates were found to be all clear and were in fact, just a 12-pack box of melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness.
So, first airplanes – now cookies. What’s next, people, diapers?
We get it, America – Arabic is frightening. We should be always doing “American” things like eating “American” foods and speaking “American” English.
If you want to play it safe, avoid the phrases above and eat only peanut butter cookies. Oh but wait, peanut allergies. Chocolate chip cookies are always safe. So yes, eat tons of chocolate chip cookies and listen to a lot of Taylor Swift for an added safety feature.
But, just in case you are curious, and you’ve never eaten maamoul before, I have to tell you that YOU ARE MISSING OUT!
Never fear, though. Your girl is here to provide you with a list of yummy recipes and brands:
1- Amanda’s Plate – Amanda Saab shares her delicious recipe of maamoul. She’s been featured on Master Chef, so she knows what she’s doing.
2- Amazon – Yes, Amazon sells Halwani Bros’ maamoul also in case you prefer individually wrapped ones. Just make sure you don’t leave the box any where in public. In fact, just eat it all in the comfort of your own home.
3- Dedemed- Dedemed, a food blogger and author, has a great maamoul recipe that you can fill with dates or walnuts.
4- Shatila – Shatila, the famous dessert place in Dearborn has a wide selection of maamoul, and if you don’t live in Dearborn, it’s OK because they ship! They even make some cool maamoul gift boxes so you can give them to your neighbors and coworkers for the holidays.
But, just in case – maybe you should be on the safe side and get your neighbors and coworkers a fruit basket instead. Otherwise you may have the bomb squad showing up at your workplace.