Om Ali: An 'unforgettable' sweet with a sinister history

BBC News

29-03-2025

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As millions of people break their Ramadan fast, many believers around the world reach for a wildly popular dish tied to an unbelievable legend.
On a hot and sultry August evening in 2011, I sat at a table in my favourite restaurant in Kuwait City, facing the calm waters of the Persian Gulf, waiting for my iftar platter to arrive. The elaborate meal – consisting of fresh juices, stuffed dates, vegetable samosas, lamb pilaf, shish tawook (a marinated chicken kebab), local bread, coffee and desserts – was delicious.
Yet, what still lingers on my tongue and in my mind more than a decade later isn't the delightful crunch of the samosa or the sapid juiciness of the shish tawook but the sweet taste of Om Ali, a simple-but-flavourful Egyptian dessert with a surprisingly dark history.
Flash forward to 2025 and I'm standing in a small confectionery store in downtown Cairo, sharing another bowl of Om Ali, this time with my 12-year-old son, and I still can't stop drooling over the dish, despite having tried it in every Middle Eastern city I've visited during the last 14 years.
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"A good bowl of Om Ali is unforgettable," says Nermine Mansour, a former Egyptian diplomat-turned-food writer and founder of the food blog, Chez Nermine. "It is the perfect balance of flavours, textures and nutrition – the star of Egyptian cuisine," she adds.
Om Ali (also known as Umm Ali or Oum Ali) is a decadent bread pudding made from spice-infused milk, puff pastry, roasted nuts and sugar. Traditionally baked in a deep clay dish for about 20-25 minutes, it has a crunchy, caramelised coating at the top and a silky, creamy layer at the bottom, giving the dessert a unique texture. According to Mansour, the creaminess of the milk, the juiciness of the soaked puff pastry, the crunch from the nuts and the sweet earthiness lent by the clay pot come together to give Om Ali a rare appeal, making it one of the most popular desserts in Egypt.
Where to find Om Ali
Although Om Ali is available at all major cafes and bakeries in Egypt throughout the year, the variety and volume are staggering during Ramadan. Some of the best places to sample authentic Om Ali in Cairo are El Malky, Simonds Bakery & Café and Nola Bakery.
Om Ali is also a favourite across the Middle East, particularly during Ramadan and Eid celebrations when dessert consumption skyrockets. Earlier this year, B Laban, one of the fastest-growing Middle Eastern dessert companies, posted a video of Om Ali on Instagram and thousands of people quickly swooned over it.
"I get why Om Ali is so popular. It is affordable, easy to digest and can be prepared quickly using ingredients available at home, making it equally accessible to the rich and the poor," says Moustafa Omran, an Egyptologist and my local tour guide in Cairo. "Despite the fame of this dish, a question always lingers in the minds of [Om Ali] lovers: who is Ali and who is his mother, after whom this dish is named?" Omran points out, drawing my attention to the dessert's name.
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With my mouth stuffed with soaked puff pastry and my mind going nuts over the creaming pudding at El Malky, one of the most famous dessert chains serving Om Ali in Cairo, I cannot help but agree.
Om Ali, which means "Mother of Ali" in Arabic, is an admittedly unusual name for a dessert. Yet, what's even more unusual, as many Egyptians tell me, is that it is rumoured to be named after a murderer.
Om Ali was the first wife of the first sultan of the Mamluk dynasty, which ruled Egypt from the mid-13th to early 16th Centuries. In 1250, her then-husband, Izz Al-Din Aybak overthrew the Ayyubid dynasty and established the Mamluk reign in Egypt, marrying Shajar Al-Durr, the last Ayyubid queen, to solidify his rule. The marriage was merely a political union and Al-Durr had frequent disagreements with Aybak before finally deciding to murder him as he took a bath.
In a bizarre turn of events, Om Ali decided to avenge her husband's death by beating Al-Durr to death with wooden clogs. After killing Al-Durr, Om Ali instructed her cook to bake something special to commemorate her success and the eponymous dessert was allegedly born and named in her honour.
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As surprised as I am to learn that Om Ali's origins may be rooted in murder and betrayal, deeper research reveals that the dish's origins are even more complex, and still baffle historians.
"There are no historical records that tell us if the dessert Om Ali is connected to the murder of Al-Durr," says Dr Mennat-Allah El Dorry, a food historian at the American University in Cairo. "Although we know for sure that Queen Om Ali killed Al-Durr, we do not have any concrete evidence linking the dessert to the murder… I have absolutely no idea how the narrative came about and how the dessert got its name."
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Further, the oldest recorded recipe for Om Ali comes from a more recent 19th-Century Arabic cookbook titled Kitāb nasị̄hạt al-anām fī hụsn al-tạʻām, which adds another layer of mystery to the dish's origins and nomenclature.
Yet, according to Mansour, the 13th-Century Om Ali narrative may hold some truth. "Egyptians have eaten a thin phyllo bread called roqaq since ancient times," she says. According to the book The Pharaoh's Kitchen by Magda Mehdawy and Amr Hussein, roqaq has been a staple at Nubian banquets since the 3rd Century BCE. "So, it is quite possible that Om Ali's cook used the leftover roqaq in the palace and baked it with milk and nuts to create the iconic dessert that we all love today."
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Despite the dessert's muddled origins, its connection to the killer of Al-Durr live on in Egyptian popular culture. Today, the name Om Ali is synonymous with good triumphing over evil – in this case, the unjust queen.
"We love it because of its association with the story of the victory of justice over injustice," says Omran. "Also, we [Egyptians] love stories; therefore, this dish has gained immense popularity," he explains. The legend continues to endure in social media, food blogs and television, such as the 2004 popular drama series Abbas Al Abiad Fi Al Yawm Al Aswad, in which famous Egyptian actor Yehia El-Fakharany recounts the legend of Om Ali to his onscreen family.
The popularity of Om Ali swells during Ramadan, as sugar-based desserts take centre stage in iftar meals around the globe, providing instant nourishment to a fasting body that has run out of glucose. "In addition to sugar, Om Ali contains protein and calcium from milk, vitamins and fibre from nuts, and carbohydrates from bread," Mansour points out. "That's why, [Om Ali] is a guilty pleasure you can easily justify. It feels like a warm hug in a clay pot filled with goodness," she adds. (A calorie analysis reveals that Om Ali has fewer calories compared to other Middle Eastern desserts like kunefe and baklava.)
Besides, Om Ali is an easy dessert to make. "It requires only simple ingredients found in every Egyptian kitchen," Mansour adds. Depending on the size of the iftar parties, this dish can be scaled up or down, making it a favourite among chefs and home cooks during Ramadan and Eid.
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Om Ali holds a special place in Egyptian cuisine because it is simple, nutritious and evokes feelings of warmth and goodness. "The creaminess of the pudding, the crunch of roasted nuts and the story of the victory of good over bad – a bowl of Om Ali just feels right and makes me happy after a long day of fasting," says Omran.
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