halvan.
/ˈhalvə/, /ˈhalvɑː/, U.S. /ˈˌhɑlˈˌvɑ/ A sweetmeat made of sesame flour and honey.
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the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > confections or sweetmeats > sweets > [noun] > a sweet > Eastern sweets
hulwa1662
halawi1836
halva1846
jalebi1868
laddu1868
rasgulla1880
sandesh1944
1846 I. F. Romer Pilgrimage II. ii. 33 The vender of sweetmeats with a tempting array of halva and ‘lumps of delight’ set out upon a wooden tray borne upon his head.
1908 Daily Chron. 12 June 4/7 A Greek merchant in the East-end, who..would sell you..black olives, rose leaf jam, and halvas.
a1916 ‘Saki’ Toys of Peace (1919) 134 A tin of the best Smyrna halva.
1917 R. Kipling in Sat. Evening Post 9 June 17/1, I eat..halwa and puri (native dishes).
1945 A. Kober Parm Me 5 ‘Halvah’, a Turkish confection.
1953 H. Miller Plexus (1963) x. 352, I see Halvah and Baklava too.
1962 Listener 24 May 931/2 Halva cake. Many of the Greek cakes and pastries are beyond the scope of the home cook, but here is a simple one.
1964 W. Markfield To Early Grave (1965) ii. 34 He brought a bagful of Hershey bars and Charms and sour balls and chocolate-covered halvah.
1973 Sunday Express 23 Sept. 7/1 From the first time he tasted halva as a child Gholamali Rastegar was obsessed by the traditional Arabic sweetmeat made from honey.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online March 2016).
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n.1846