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.

Origin and etymology
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".



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.