Six generations, one legendary pastry, and a family name that traveled from a
vaulted stone stall beside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to sweet shops across the Middle East —
and supermarket shelves around the world.
The Story
A one-dish shop in the Old City
In 1860, in Souk Khan el-Zeit in Jerusalem's Old City, a former Ottoman soldier named
Mohammed Zalatimo opened a tiny pastry stall at the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
He sold exactly one thing: mutabbaq — "folded" in Arabic — sheets of hand-stretched
dough wrapped around white cheese, baked golden, drenched in syrup and dusted with sugar.
Mutabbaq — photo: Dan Perez, via Ha’aretz
Accounts of the family's telling say Mohammed, born around 1830 in Jerusalem, discovered his
passion for baking while serving with the Ottoman army in Lebanon in the 1850s, where he is said to
have married a baker's daughter before returning home to perfect his recipe. The little shop
prospered almost immediately — a seating area was added, helpers were hired, and the pastry became
so identified with the family that locals nicknamed it "Zaltoomeh."
The stall itself occupies a vaulted, semi-subterranean stone chamber built against ancient
masonry — widely described as remnants of the original Byzantine entrance to the Holy Sepulchre.
Because the space is classified as an archaeological site, the family was never permitted to alter
its façade; for over 150 years the mutabbaq was baked on the same handmade copper trays dating to
the shop's founding.
After Mohammed's death, his son Ibrahim carried on the craft and broadened the range of sweets,
and for more than a century successive Zalatimo men ran the Jerusalem shop essentially as a
one-man show — rolling, folding, baking and serving each order themselves. For decades,
Mr. Zalatimo would open the store before sunrise, prepare dough to create a specific number of
muttabbaqs, and once they were sold, he would close the shop and go home. Day in and day out.
That consistency and discipline helped keep the shop in business for 160 years.
In the 1980s, political hardship in Jerusalem pushed the family toward a crossroads that
would eventually turn a single stall into an international name.
Voices
Remembered by heart
For generations of Jerusalemites and the Palestinian diaspora, Zalatimo's mutabbaq
is less a pastry than a memory — of courtships, Sunday mornings, and long drives home.
"Anyone who has been to Jerusalem and did not eat Zalatimo's mutabbaq
has indeed not been in Jerusalem."
My mother used to tell me stories of how my father would take her for muttabbaq
when he was courting her. Even after they got married, it was their Sunday morning,
after-church ritual.
We used to drive from Amman to Jerusalem once a month, just to have Zalatimo
muttabbaq.
I remember once my uncle was coming to visit us from Jerusalem and he surprised us
with Zalatimo muttabbaq. We couldn't believe it!
Timeline
One hundred and sixty-six years of sweets
The family's story runs along the spine. Smaller notes in the margin — "The world
outside" — supply the geopolitical and economic currents that shaped Jerusalem, and with it the
fortunes of a small shop in its heart.
c. 1830
Mohammed Zalatimo is born in Jerusalem
The future founder grows up in the Old City under Ottoman rule.
In 1840 the Ottomans, with European help, reclaim Jerusalem and greater Syria from a
decade of Egyptian rule under Muhammad Ali. The empire's Tanzimat reforms follow, opening
Jerusalem to foreign consulates, pilgrims, missions and investment — an economic boom that
swells the city in the decades a young Mohammed Zalatimo comes of age.
1850s
A soldier learns to bake
Serving with the Ottoman army in Lebanon — where imperial troops were likely garrisoned to
police the sectarian strife then convulsing Mount Lebanon — Mohammed develops a passion for
pastry. Family lore holds that he married a baker's daughter around 1855 and worked out his
signature mutabbaq recipe of buttered dough, white cheese and sugar.
Source: [2] (which dates his start in baking to 1855) ·
historical context on the Lebanon posting
1860
The shop opens in Souk Khan el-Zeit
Mohammed opens his stall beside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, selling mutabbaq as a
breakfast takeaway. Demand grows quickly; he adds seating and hires three helpers.
Mohammed's son Ibrahim, trained at his father's side, inherits the business and expands the
offerings beyond mutabbaq to a wider range of Arabic sweets and pastries.
Through the end of Ottoman rule and the years of the British Mandate, the family keeps the
tiny shop running by hand, unchanged — a fixture of Jerusalem life and a pilgrimage site for
lovers of the pastry.
The Ottoman Empire is defeated in the First World War and British forces enter Jerusalem
in December 1917, ushering in the British Mandate. The city sees renewed population growth
and foreign investment, and the pilgrim and tourist trade that sustains Old City merchants
expands with it.
Late 1930s
A first branch beyond the walls
Abdallah, son of Ibrahim, opens the first branch of Zalatimo Sweets outside the Old City,
in the wealthy Qatamon neighborhood of West Jerusalem.
Source: Zalatimo family account
Early 1940s
Back to the Old City
Abdallah closes the Qatamon branch and rejoins his father to help operate the Old City
location.
Source: Zalatimo family account
1948
The city divided
In the aftermath of the Second World War, the State of Israel is created. Israel takes
West Jerusalem; Jordan takes East Jerusalem and the Old City. A century of economic growth
gives way to political instability and violence — a turbulent time for the city and the
business, as tourism slows and refugees flee to neighboring Jordan and Lebanon.
Source: Zalatimo family account
1953
The third generation takes over
Ibrahim Zalatimo dies. His elder sons, Mohammed and Daoud, are educators and artists. His
youngest son, Abdallah, who had been working with him for over a decade, takes over the
shop.
Source: Zalatimo family account
1957
A sudden loss
Abdallah Zalatimo, the youngest of Ibrahim's sons, tragically dies at the age of 40 from a
heart attack. His two older sons, Aref and Ibrahim, are studying outside the country, and his
youngest son, Akram, is only four years old at the time. So, his brother, Mohammed Zalatimo,
known as Abu Nizar, steps in to run the shop, with support from other family members — some of
whom later go on to open their own standalone branches around Jerusalem.
Source: Zalatimo family account
1967
War scatters the family
The 1967 war between Israel and the Arab countries creates refugees from the Old City and
East Jerusalem for the first time. Many Zalatimo family members seek refuge in Jordan, Kuwait,
and the USA — among them the deceased Abdallah's two youngest children and widow. Abu Nizar
and his family remain in Jerusalem, continuing to operate the store and sending money to
support Abdallah's surviving family.
Source: Zalatimo family account
1972
A cousin's branch in Dahia
After working in the Old City location, Ala'i Zalatimo — son of Yusuf, son of Musa Zalatimo
(brother of Ibrahim) — opens a Zalatimo Sweets in Dahia.
Source: Zalatimo family account
Early 1980s
A family crossroads
Political circumstances make it increasingly difficult for younger family members to remain
in Jerusalem, pushing the family toward a crossroads.
Mohammed Zalatimo (Abu Nizar) dies. His eldest son, Khaled, takes over the Old City
shop.
Source: Zalatimo family account
1986
Zalatimo Sweets opens in Amman
Aref — son of Abdallah the elder, who had been living in the US as a physician — relocates
to Amman, Jordan, where his son Abdallah opens the first Zalatimo Sweets outside Jerusalem,
with about 15 employees, aimed at the Palestinian diaspora communities displaced in 1948 and
1967 who longed for the tastes of home. It is an immediate success.
The First Intifada erupts across the occupied territories. Israeli restrictions on
commerce tighten, general strikes shutter the souks for long stretches, and tourism — the
lifeblood of Old City trade — falls away.
The world outside · 1990–91
The First Iraq War prolongs the instability. Tourism to Jerusalem collapses again, and
the region's economies — on which many Palestinian families, including those in Kuwait,
depend — are thrown into upheaval.
c. 1992
Nabil becomes custodian
Khaled Zalatimo passes away, leaving his son Nabil as custodian of the Old City shop.
Source: Zalatimo family account
The world outside · 1993
The Oslo Accords establish the Palestinian Authority and begin an internal migration of
Palestinians toward its new administrative centers, alongside a wave of foreign investment
into the West Bank — currents that will later draw a Zalatimo branch to Ramallah.
1996
The family tree branches: Zalatimo Brothers for Sweets
Another branch of the family enters the business: Ahmad Wael Zalatimo — son of Mohammed
Wael, of the line Mohammed (founder) → Rushdie → Wael — opens a second company in Jordan,
Zalatimo Brothers for Sweets, which grows into one of Jordan's best-known confectioners in
its own right.
The Second Intifada erupts in 2000, and in 2002 Israel begins constructing its separation
wall around East Jerusalem and through the West Bank. The barrier severs the Old City from
the West Bank towns whose shoppers and pilgrims had sustained its merchants for
generations.
c. 2002
The wall — and a branch in Ramallah
When Israel builds its separation wall, East Jerusalem begins a significant economic
decline as customers are no longer able to move throughout the territories. With
administration of the West Bank turned over to the Palestinian Authority, Nabil opens a
second branch in Ramallah.
Source: Zalatimo family account
2015
Mohammed Zalatimo for Sweets, Shu'afat
Mohammed Zalatimo — son of Rajaie, son of Yusuf, son of Musa Zalatimo (brother of Ibrahim)
— opens Mohammed Zalatimo for Sweets in Shu'afat.
Source: Zalatimo family account
2018
From the souk to the supermarket
Zalatimo Sweets of Jordan grows to roughly 250 employees, 11 stores across Amman, Kuwait, Bahrain and
Istanbul, and three factories, exporting around 250 tons of sweets a year. By 2018–19 revenues
reach about $11 million and the brand lands in 230 Walmart Supercenters, Jewel-Osco and Kroger
in the US, distributed by Ziyad Brothers.
After nearly 160 years, press reports mourn the decline of the original Old City stall,
struggling amid the difficult conditions in Jerusalem. Smaller family-run shops continue in
Beit Hanina, Shu'afat and Ramallah.
When Covid hits, the economy in East Jerusalem — and especially the Old City — grinds to a
halt, and an already struggling business is unable to survive.
Source: Zalatimo family account
2026
Baklava on the world stage
Jordan's national team hands out Zalatimo Brothers pistachio and walnut baklava to opponents
and FIFA staff at the World Cup, and the gesture goes viral — putting the 166-year-old family
name in front of a global audience once more.
Ottoman soldier turned pâtissier who opened the original stall in 1860 and created the
mutabbaq recipe the family still guards. Every branch of the business traces itself to him.
Mohammed's son and first successor, who learned the craft at his father's side and expanded
the shop's repertoire beyond mutabbaq into a fuller range of Arabic sweets. He ran the Old City
shop until his death in 1953.
Youngest son of Ibrahim. In the late 1930s he opened the family's first branch outside the
Old City, in Qatamon in West Jerusalem, before closing it in the early 1940s to rejoin his
father. He took over the shop on Ibrahim's death in 1953, but died of a heart attack just four
years later — his sons Aref and Ibrahim were studying abroad, and his youngest, Akram, was
only four.
Source: Zalatimo family account
Daoud Zalatimo
Painter & Educator · 1906–2001
Son of Ibrahim, grandson of the founder, and one of the pioneers of modern Palestinian
art. A Mandate-era art teacher in Khan Younis and Lydda — where the young Ismail Shammout was
his student — he painted Jerusalem landscapes and allegorical scenes of figures like Saladin,
later shaping art curricula as an inspector for the Jordanian Ministry of Education and a
UNESCO consultant. After his youngest brother Abdallah's death in 1957, he supported their
brother Abu Nizar in keeping the sweets shop going.
After Abu Nizar (d. 1982) came his eldest son Khaled (d. c. 1992), then Khaled's son Nabil
— custodian of the original location to this day, and founder of its Ramallah branch around
2002.
In recent decades, family members including Yousef and Hani Zalatimo kept the shop alive as a
deliberately unmarketed, one-dish institution, drawing admirers from Yotam Ottolenghi to food
writers worldwide.
Sources: family account · [2] (Yousef) · [3] (Hani, Ottolenghi)
Son of Aref (a physician who had settled in the US) and grandson of Abdallah the elder.
Raised in Pennsylvania with a marketing degree, when Aref relocated to Amman in 1986 he opened
the company that took Zalatimo sweets global — all the way to Walmart.
Founder & CEO, Zalatimo Brothers for Sweets (1996)
Son of Mohammed Wael, of the line Mohammed (founder) → Rushdie → Wael. In 1996 he brought
another branch of the family into the business, opening Zalatimo Brothers for Sweets in Jordan
and steering it through Gulf expansion, worldwide online ordering, and its viral 2026 World
Cup moment.
Two men named Abdallah Zalatimo appear in this history, two generations apart — an easy point
of confusion — as do at least three Mohammeds. Abdallah the elder (third
generation, youngest son of Ibrahim) ran the Old City shop from 1953 until his early death in
1957. Abdallah the younger (fifth generation, son of Aref, grandson of Abdallah
the elder) is the Pennsylvania-raised descendant who founded Zalatimo Sweets in Amman in 1986.
The line of the Old City shop runs: Mohammed (founder, 1860) → Ibrahim → Abdallah the elder →
his brother Mohammed (Abu Nizar), supported by their brother, the painter Daoud, among others →
Abu Nizar's son Khaled → Khaled's son Nabil, the shop's custodian today. The Amman companies
were founded by other lines of the family: Abdallah the younger (Zalatimo Sweets, 1986) and
Ahmad Wael Zalatimo, of the Mohammed → Rushdie → Wael line (Zalatimo Brothers for Sweets,
1996).
The Signature
Mutabbaq: the folded one
A 160-year-old recipe in four ingredients
The dish that built the dynasty is austere by design: dough, white cheese (traditionally
sheep's or goat's milk curds), sugar syrup, and powdered sugar. Everything depends on
technique — the dough is flipped and stretched by hand against stone until it turns
translucent, "tracing-paper thin."
1 · StretchThe dough is hand-flipped and stretched — never rolled —
until nearly transparent.
2 · Fill & foldWhite cheese curds are scattered over the
sheet, which is folded, origami-like, into a neat square.
3 · BakeBrushed with clarified butter and baked golden on handmade
copper trays.
4 · FinishDoused in sugar syrup, dusted with powdered sugar, quartered,
and served hot. Always eaten by hand.
The Old City shop famously offered no menu — mutabbaq was the menu.
Today both Amman companies still make it, alongside baklava, ma'amoul, barazek, ghraybeh, borma
and knafeh.
The family name lives on through two major companies — run by different branches of
the family — plus smaller family-run shops around Jerusalem.
01
Zalatimo Sweets Company
Founded 1986 · Amman, Jordan · zalatimosweets.com
Abdallah Zalatimo's company: stores across Amman with outlets reaching Kuwait, Bahrain and
Istanbul, three factories, and roughly 250 tons of sweets exported each year. In the United
States its boxed baklava, ma'amoul, barazek and ghraybeh are distributed by Ziyad Brothers
and have been stocked at Walmart (230 Supercenters), Jewel-Osco and Kroger, plus an Amazon
storefront.
JordanKuwaitBahrainIstanbulUSA retail via Ziyad BrothersAmazonSources: [1][6][8][11]
02
Zalatimo Brothers for Sweets
Founded 1996 · Amman, Jordan · zalatimo.com
Founded and led by Ahmad Wael Zalatimo, of the Mohammed → Rushdie → Wael line of the
family. Multiple branches
across Amman (including Shmeisani and the Boulevard), a seasonal outlet at Dubai's Global
Village, and online ordering with delivery across the US, Europe and the Middle East. The
brand earned global attention in June 2026 when Jordan's World Cup squad gifted its baklava
after matches.
Jordan (multiple branches)Dubai · Global VillageWorldwide online deliverySources: [7][9][10]
03
The Jerusalem family shops
Old City · Ramallah · Beit Hanina · Shu'afat
The original 1860 stall in Souk Khan el-Zeit remains in family hands under its custodian,
Nabil Zalatimo — closed since the Covid shutdown of 2020, after years of decline behind the
separation wall, its archaeologically protected vault unchanged and its fate a subject of
deep affection among Jerusalemites. Nabil also runs
the Ramallah branch he opened around 2002, and other branches of the family operate their own
shops, including Mohammed Zalatimo for Sweets in Shu'afat (opened 2015) and shops in
Beit Hanina.
East JerusalemWest BankSources: family account · [1][3][5]
A note on accuracy: This history is compiled from press
coverage and the companies' own accounts. Sources differ on minor details — some date Mohammed's
baking beginnings to 1855, generational counts vary between tellings, and the operating status of
the original Old City stall has fluctuated with conditions in Jerusalem. Figures such as revenue
and store counts reflect reporting from 2019–2026 and may have changed.
Gallery
From the family album
Photographs from the Zalatimo family archive — the Old City shop and the people
behind it, across the generations.
The Zalatimo Sweets shopfront in the Old City — photo: Zalatimo family archiveRolling the paper-thin mutabbaq dough by hand — photo: Zalatimo family archiveUnder the "Est. 1860" sign at the shop entrance — photo: Zalatimo family archiveAbdallah Zalatimo and his wife Rabiha Ghoseh with their children Aref, Afaf, Fadia, Shadia and Akram — photo: Zalatimo family archiveIbrahim Zalatimo, son of founder Mohammed (c. 1870–1953), who operated the shop from the late 1800s until 1953 — photo: Zalatimo family archiveAbdallah Zalatimo, son of Ibrahim (1917–1957), who operated the Old City shop from 1953 to 1957 — photo: Zalatimo family archiveThe shop sign above the entrance, customers within — photo: Zalatimo family archive
Sources
Further reading
Numbered references cited throughout the page. Click any
[n] footnote to jump here.
Zalatimo — Family Business Histories — the fullest single account of the family story, generations, the 1986 Amman expansion and the 1996 split.
Daoud Zalatimo — PASSIA — biographical entry: 1906–2001, teacher training in Jerusalem and Haifa, art-education inspector for the Jordanian Ministry of Education, UNESCO consultant in Libya.
