Arabic pastries
When I was in my 30s I was shown how to make baklava by a lovely 70-year old from Egypt. He taught me first that prime quality, fresh ingredients are the key to success. This week The Man in the Armchair Kitchen came home with a small gift: bite size pastries bought from a local shop. Surprisingly they have a very long shelf life. Three months is a long time for something baked without preservatives, but this is probably because, in addition to the almonds, cashews and pistachios, the main ingredient is perhaps sugar, often in the form of a syrup poured over the cooked phyllo pastries.
If the sight of the kunafah, qateyef and baklava make you think of the Middle East, you should read what blogger David Lebovitz has to say about them:
“It’s too bad that so many people are only familiar with Middle Eastern pastries that aren’t so well made. If you sample them far from where they originate, often they’re made with old or stale nuts, they’ve sat around too long in plastic packages, or the cheeses aren’t exactly fresh. While it’s true that some of them can be a bit sticky-sweet for Western tastes, but when they’re made correctly, they’re just as lovely to look at as they are to eat”.
Even better, have a look at the mouth watering pictures from his visit to a Beirut bakery. You can see it here: