Established 1860 · Jerusalem

The House of Zalatimo زلاطيمو

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 I 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 — folded pastry dusted with powdered sugar on a silver tray
Mutabbaq — photo: Dan Perez, via Ha’aretz

Accounts of the family's telling say Mohammed I, 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 I'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.

1850s

A soldier learns to bake

Serving with the Ottoman army in Lebanon, Mohammed I 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
The world outside · 1850s–1860s

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 I comes of age.

1860

The shop opens in Souk Khan el-Zeit

Mohammed I 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.

Sources: [1] [4] [8]
Late 1800s

Ibrahim takes the reins

Mohammed I's son Ibrahim, trained at his father's side, inherits the thriving business and expands the offerings beyond mutabbaq to a wider range of Arabic sweets and pastries.

Source: [1]
Early 1900s

Prosperity and consistency

Through the end of Ottoman rule and the years of the British Mandate, the business thrives under Ibrahim. It becomes a fixture of Jerusalem life and tourist attraction.

Sources: [1] [3]
The world outside · 1917

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

After more than 70 years in its original location, Ibrahim's youngest son, Abdallah, branches out and opens a second location 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
The world outside · 1948

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.

1953

The third generation takes over

After running the shop for over 60 years, Ibrahim Zalatimo passes away. His youngest son, Abdallah, takes over the sweets shop. While his older brothers, Mohammed II ("Abu Nizar") and Daoud ("Abu Suleiman") had careers in education and the arts.

Source: Zalatimo family account
1957

A sudden loss

Abdallah Zalatimo 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 older brother, Mohammed ("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
The world outside · 1967

The 1967 war between Israel and the Arab countries creates refugees from the Old City and East Jerusalem for the first time. Palestinians seek refuge in neighboring countries, mainly Kuwait and Jordan.

1967

War scatters the family

Many Zalatimo family members leave for Jordan, Kuwait, and others. Abdallah's surviving family take shelter in Jordan. Abu Nizar and his family remain in Jerusalem to operate the shop and provide for the 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
1982

Abu Nizar passes the torch

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 — who had grown up working in the shop with his father — opens a Zalatimo Sweets with his sons, Abdallah and Ahmad. It is the first Zalatimo Sweets outside of Jerusalem, and grows to become a global food company.

Sources: family account (Aref) · [1] [8]
The world outside · 1987

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 in the Old City

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 I (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.

Sources: family account · [1] [7]
The world outside · 2000–2002

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.

2015

Mohammed Zalatimo for Sweets, Shu'afat

Mohammed III Zalatimo — of the line Mohammed I (founder) → Musa → Yusuf → Raja'i — 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.

Sources: [6] [1] [11]
2019

"The vanishing of a legendary pastry"

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.

Sources: [5] [1] [3]
2020

Covid closes the original shop

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.

Source: [7]

Key Figures

The people behind the name

Mohammed Zalatimo I

Founder · c. 1830 – late 1800s

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.

Sources: [1] [2] [4]

Ibrahim Zalatimo

Second Generation · d. 1953

Mohammed I'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.

Sources: [1] · family account (1953)

Abdallah Zalatimo I

Third Generation · d. 1957, aged 40

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.

Sources: [12] [13] · family account (shop role)

The Jerusalem keepers

Guardians of the Old City stall

The Old City stall has passed through an unbroken chain of family hands: founder Mohammed I (1860), his son Ibrahim (until 1953), Ibrahim's youngest son Abdallah I (1953–1957), then Abdallah's brother Abu Nizar (d. 1982), Abu Nizar's eldest son Khaled (d. c. 1992), and 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)

Abdallah Zalatimo II

Fifth Generation · Founder, Zalatimo Sweets, Amman (1986)

Son of Aref (a physician who had settled in the US) and grandson of Abdallah I. 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.

Sources: family account (lineage) · [1] [6]

Ahmad Wael Zalatimo

Founder & CEO, Zalatimo Brothers for Sweets (1996)

Son of Mohammed Wael, of the line Mohammed I (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.

Sources: family account · [7]

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 specially formulated dough is hand-flipped and stretched until nearly transparent. Learning this technique takes hours of apprenticeship.
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 at high heat til puffy and crispy.
4 · FinishDrizzled with syrup, dusted with powdered sugar, quartered, and served hot. Always eaten by hand.
Mutabbaq in the making — video: Zalatimo family archive

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.

Sources: [2] [3] [4] [7]

Zalatimo Today

Where to find Zalatimo sweets now

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 II'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.

Sources: [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 I → 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.

Sources: [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.

Sources: 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 I'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.

Sources

Further reading

Numbered references cited throughout the page. Click any [n] footnote to jump here.

Entries and details marked "Zalatimo family account" were contributed directly by the family and are not drawn from the published sources above.