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Alternative names Lokma, Lokmades, Luqmat
Type fried-dough
Place of origin Turkey, Greece
Variations dough, sugar syrup or honey, cinnamon
Cookbook:Loukoumades  Loukoumades

Loukoumades (Greek), lokma tatlısı or simply lokma (Turkish) or lokmades (Cypriot) (Greek: λουκουμάδες, singular λουκουμάς loukoumas, luqmat al-qadi (Arabic:لقمة القاضي, Persian: بامیه bāmiyeh, see etymology below) are a pastry made of deep fried dough soaked in sugar syrup or honey and cinnamon and sometimes sprinkled with sesame.

Regional varieties[edit]

In Greece, loukoumades are commonly spiced with cinnamon in a honey syrup and can be sprinkled lightly with powdered sugar.

In ancient Greece, these deep fried dough balls were served to the winners of the Greek Olympics.[citation needed] The Greek poet Callimachus was the first to state that these deep fried dough balls were soaked in honey and then served to the winners as "honey tokens".[dubious ]

The pastry is called zvingoi by the Greek Jews, who make them as Hanukkah treats. It is claimed to have been originated by the Romaniotes, though the name derives from medieval German swinge.[1] A similar dish is also found in Italy as sfingi di San Giuseppe.

Various other kinds of fried dough with syrup are found in the Mediterranean, Middle East, and South Asia, from the Italian struffoli (the most similar to loukoumades in preparation) and zeppole (more like an American cake doughnut) to the Indian and Pakistani jalebi and gulab jamun.



The Turkish word lokma means 'mouthful' or 'morsel', from Arabic لقمة luqma(t).[3] A version called لقمة القاضي luqmat al-qādi (judge's mouthful) was described by al-Baghdadi in the 13th century[4] and is made in Arab countries to this day.

See also[edit]


  1. ^ Babiniotis
  3. ^ Diran Kélékian, Dictionnaire Turc-Français (Ottoman Turkish), 1911
  4. ^ Oxford Companion to Food; Charles Perry, A Baghdad Cookery Book, 2006. ISBN 1-903018-42-0.

Further reading[edit]

  • Oxford Companion to Food, s.v. jalebi.