Syrian Stuffed Zucchini in Tomato-Apricot Sauce

Mahshi Koosa

Preparation info
  • Yield:

    6 to 8

    Servings
    • Difficulty

      Medium

Appears in
Jewish Holiday Cooking

By Jayne Cohen

Published 2008

  • About

Piles of finger-size zucchini hollowed out by nimble fingers with special tools; whispered gossiping punctuated by bursts of laughter; perfumes of sautéing garlic, buttery pine nuts, and the rosewater scent of her grandmother—all this was evoked for my Syrian-Jewish friend by a single word: mahshi (Arabic for stuffed, as in stuffed vegetables). As a little girl, she couldn’t wait to enter that world of mahshi, but by the time she was old enough, it had vanished.

Yet, while fe