So my mom and the younger brothers came down yesterday to visit us for Christmas. Along with gifts, pictures, cookies, pie, and love what does she pull out of one of the many bags? A big chunk of havla! Then she has the nerve to ask me if I know what it is. Of course I know what it is, it’s havla! This was one of Dad’s favorite foods and, as kids, my brothers and I would beg and plead for bits of this sweet treat. When that didn’t work we’d lay in wait and sneak some. We had to be careful not to get too greedy, because my mom only bought little chunks of it at a time and Dad would definitely notice.
When Mom was trying to slice it yesterday she started to mumble about how she couldn’t get it to slice. I reminded her that it NEVER slices but just crumbles into yummy bits of goodness. Turns out though that my brothers have decided they don’t like it anymore (weirdoes) and so now I have small plate of havla bits in the refrigerator that I can have all to myself (turns out TheHusband isn’t too fond of it either). So today, after several nibbles, I wanted to figure out exactly what this “havla” is. And really what I have discovered is that there are so many things about my Dad that I don’t know.
It turns out that havla is a Middle Eastern dessert. HUH?!? A Middle Eastern dessert? Now I’m wondering how this man, who was raised by two German born immigrants in the middle of North Dakota came across this wonderful dessert and added it to his list of favorite foods. So far what I’ve found indicates that this dessert originates from Turkey (my information is coming from the internet, so I admit it could be faulty). And since Turkey and Germany are both part of the European continent, it is possible that his parents, or grandparents more likely, discovered this food before coming to the U.S..
Guess it’s just one of those things I’ll never get to ask him about. While that makes me a little sad, I am happy today. I have havla in the fridge and good thoughts in my heart.
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