Food news
HeritageThe National Museum of the Philippines Iloilo capped off its 2026 ‘Magbasá Kita: A Reading Program for Young Learners’ with an immersive storytelling session at the museum’s Book Nook on September 23, 2026. The activity introduced the localHeritage21st Sunchang Jangryu Festival to Welcome the World With K-Food and Cultural ExperiencesHeritage21st Sunchang Jangryu Festival to Welcome the World With K-Food and Cultural ExperiencesStreet foodMan dead, 3 in custody after shooting outside Piada Italian Street Food in Mayfield HeightsStreet foodBrick-and-Mortar Restaurants Need to Stop Blaming Street VendorsFarm and marketYour guide to Harvest Fair 2026 at Wisconsin State Fair ParkFarm and marketOct. 3 Harvest of Harmony Parade available to view in livestream broadcast during paradeFarm and marketSouthington Apple Harvest Festival kicks off tonightWorldBon Appétit editor-in-chief explores food’s role in culture, media at MSUFarm and marketDetroit Harvest Fest adds movies, more food trucks in year 6HeritageThe National Museum of the Philippines Iloilo capped off its 2026 ‘Magbasá Kita: A Reading Program for Young Learners’ with an immersive storytelling session at the museum’s Book Nook on September 23, 2026. The activity introduced the localHeritage21st Sunchang Jangryu Festival to Welcome the World With K-Food and Cultural ExperiencesHeritage21st Sunchang Jangryu Festival to Welcome the World With K-Food and Cultural ExperiencesStreet foodMan dead, 3 in custody after shooting outside Piada Italian Street Food in Mayfield HeightsStreet foodBrick-and-Mortar Restaurants Need to Stop Blaming Street VendorsFarm and marketYour guide to Harvest Fair 2026 at Wisconsin State Fair ParkFarm and marketOct. 3 Harvest of Harmony Parade available to view in livestream broadcast during paradeFarm and marketSouthington Apple Harvest Festival kicks off tonightWorldBon Appétit editor-in-chief explores food’s role in culture, media at MSUFarm and marketDetroit Harvest Fest adds movies, more food trucks in year 6
Thali

Next: 14 Aug 2027

Mawlid

The Prophet's birthday is marked in many Muslim countries with sweets given to children and neighbours.

Putrajaya,24/01/2013. Malaysian Muslims participate in a Maulidur Rasul parade in Putrajaya, also known as Mawlid, the birthday of Prophet Muhammad, at Putrajaya Putra Mosque. Photo by Firdaus Latif
Photo: Firdaus Latif, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is eaten for Mawlid

Mawlid marks the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. Many Muslims keep it with prayers, poetry and charity, and some do not mark it at all. Where it is kept, it is a day of sweets. Egyptian shops fill with halawet el-mawlid: sesame, peanut and chickpea brittle, and sugar dolls and horses for children. Tunisians make assida with pine seed cream. In Turkey sesame rings called kandil simidi are handed out. In South Asia sweet rice and other food is cooked and shared.

The dishes

ZardaSweet saffron rice shared in South Asia.

Also part of it, and being written: Sesame seed candy (Among the brittles sold in Egypt for the day.), Asida (Sweet porridge, made in Tunisia with pine seed cream.), Kandil simidi (Small sesame rings given out in Turkey.).

More dishes made for Mawlid

KahkVegetarianكحك 🇪🇬 EgyptEgyptian shortbread biscuits dusted with powdered sugar, made for Eid and other feasts Sweet or dessert, Snacks, Tea time
About this page

Written by the Thali desk with AI assistance. Background: "Mawlid" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly plate

Every Monday: seven dishes you may not know, what the world is cooking this week, and one way of eating.