Syrup‑soaked Fried Dough

Tullumba is a wildly popular street food and pastry shop staple in Kosovo, consisting of golden, ridged tubes of fried dough completely saturated in sweet sugar syrup. Rooted deeply in Ottoman culinary history-where it was part of the tulumba family of fried pastries made in the sultan's kitchens-it remains an enduring favorite across southeastern Europe and the Levant.

The dessert is made from an unleavened choux-like dough that is loaded into a specialized pastry syringe fitted with a star-shaped nozzle. The dough is squeezed directly into a pan of medium-hot oil, giving the pastries their iconic ridges. Frying creates an incredibly crisp, rigid exterior shell while keeping the inside hollow and tender. As soon as they are fished out of the bubbling oil, the scorching-hot Tullumba pieces are plunged directly into an ice-cold bath of lemon-infused sherbet. The sudden temperature drop causes the hollow centers to vacuum up the syrup, resulting in a dessert that famously squirts sweet juices when bitten into. 

It is a daily comfort sweet bought by the dozen for casual family treats or afternoon snacks.