Famed Apricot Sweets Are Coming Back In War-Torn Syria
CG: Famed apricot sweets are coming back in war-torn Syria Anchor: When the Arab Spring led to Arab nightmare Syrians and Syrian Appricots started disappearing. Here is a story of Qamar al-Din coming back by Ali Khalaf and Saleha Farouq Narrator: Syrians love their apricot and their Qamar al-Din Syria actually is the Kingdome of the apricot Qamar al-Din Qamar al-Din is a sweet made from the apricot But Qamar Al-Din was nowhere to be found since apricots disappeared It is not just apricots, Syrians also started disappearing. In the torture cells and in the bombed cities. The story of apricots is intertwined with the story of Syria Syrian peacefully demanded freedom during the Arab Spring. But the Syrian dictator Bashar al Asad started bombing them. that is how Arab spring became a nightmare instead of freedom. That resulted in the civil war which is still simmering. Several countries got involved. Syria was devastated. They started fleeing for safety. Syrians became the largest refugee population in the world. It also resulted in apricots disappearing. This Qamar al-Din factory may be the only sweet factory that survived the war in Ghouta region Ghouta region the homeland of this type of sweet When the war started, all the factories were destroyed. Trees were abandoned, gardens burn to ashes. No single apricot tree remains alive all have gone Bilal Zbibi the owner of the factory says it with bitterness Instead of rows of fruit-bearing trees, they found trenches, tunnels, and remnants of war Bilal family has been in the apricot business for generations decades after decade they made the popular flat-pressed sundried sweet known as Qamar al-Din. In 2018 after pro-government forces retook the area Bilal return to his factory. He had to start from scratch SOUND BITE: "We returned after the war and we didn't find one apricot tree, the land was destroyed, everything was ruined," said Zbibi as workers behind him pour buckets of sweet Apricot juice into long flat trays before laying them out to dry in the sun. "But we came back, we're fixing things up and we're replanting to the best of our abilities." The sweet apricot sheets are made from fruit juice mixed with sugar. then they are cooked and spread oven wooden boards covered in olive oil. The boards are then left to dry in the sun. The fruity sheets are especially popular during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan The Zbibi family business is finally up and running again. But unfortunately, not with apricot. They are patiently waiting for their newly planted trees to bear fruit. Trees take time. They are using imported orange nectar now. "God willing we'll live to eat from what we planted, but if we don't, hopefully, our children will." One day apricot will be back. True Qamar Al-Deen will be ready. All Syrians will be back. Free at last. Insha Allah.
