Diples

The story

Diples are made from an egg dough rolled paper-thin, fried in hot oil until crisp, then dipped in honey syrup and sprinkled with ground walnuts and cinnamon. The same pastry, under the same name and made by the same technique, is prepared in Greek tradition for weddings as well, not only for Christmas. The name “diples” translates as “folded,” a reference to the way the thin sheets of dough are folded and rolled up with two forks in the hot oil into their characteristic scrolls. The process takes skill: the dough must be rolled until almost transparent, then slipped quickly into the hot oil and rolled up with the forks while it is still soft, before it turns too brittle to handle. The honey used for the syrup is often local and specific to a region — Greek thyme honey from mountain areas is especially prized for the purpose. For Greek families in the diaspora, making diples together, with several pairs of hands around the hot oil and the forks, is one of the rarer but especially treasured moments of shared work in the kitchen during the holidays.