Every culture seems to have its equivalent of doughnuts or fry bread, and the Greeks are no exception: loukoumades are traditional dessert treats that are loved by Greeks worldwide, and also by non-Greeks fortunate enough to have attended a Greek dance and food festival.

These consist of plain bread dough (preferably made with fine-ground flour) squeezed into globs, about the size that would fit comfortably into a teaspoon, that are dropped into a pot of boiling oil (not olive oil, but an oil with a more neutral flavour). Once they turn golden-brown, they are removed from the oil, drained, and drizzled with honey, cinnamon and sesame seeds, and ideally served as soon as possible.

If the loukoumades are made for an outdoor festival, it is likely that they will be sitting under a heat lamp after being removed from the oil until someone orders them. This causes them to become more chewy, less crispy on the outside, and cooler. For some reason, though, this does not detract from their sheer artery-clogging waistline-expanding goodness. Also, if one is lucky enough to catch the loukoumades vendors at the end of the night with lots of extra merchandise, one might just walk away with a giant container full of the leftovers for the price of a small serving, and they taste just as good after having been nuked...

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