Sunflower seeds
بزر عباد الشمسLong black seeds with pale stripes, made for cracking
Seeds
Seeds to crack and kernels ready to eat
Sunflower seeds
The most common seed at any gathering, thin-shelled and quick to crack.
Pumpkin seeds
Two forms of the same seed: white in the shell for slow cracking, and green shelled kernels to eat straight away or cook with.
White pumpkin seeds
بزر قرع أبيضBroad, flat white seeds with green kernels inside
Green pumpkin kernels
لبّ قرع أخضرOlive-green pumpkin kernels, shells already off
Watermelon seeds
Small seeds in a hard shell that take practice to crack and last you to the end of the night.
Watermelon seeds
بزر بطيخFlat brown seeds with darker flecks, for skilled cracking
About the Seeds section
Seeds, buzurat in Syrian Arabic, are the small ones you crack with your teeth or buy already shelled. In Damascus they come with their own ritual: a long evening, a dish for the shells and talk that never ends. If you want speed, pick thin seeds with easy shells; if you have patience, go for the broad ones; if you don't want to crack anything, take shelled kernels. Each kind opens its own way: sunflower at the tip, pumpkin along the rim, watermelon from the side. Here you will find striped sunflower seeds, white pumpkin seeds, green pumpkin kernels and brown watermelon seeds, each group linking to its product page.