The intense smell of melted butter began to swirl in my tiny apartment. I peeked into the oven to assure that the little diamond-shaped baklava pieces were nicely bronzed and crisp. I knew it was time to take them out. Placing the pan on the stove, I quickly reached for the cold rose flower and
Breads and Pastries
Mini mana’eesh with homemade labneh
There’s nothing better than a hot manousheh right off the saj, a domed large cast iron griddle. The flatbread dough recipe is a mix of water, flour, yeast, and salt, rolled out, and smothered with a za’atar* olive oil paste or shredded white cheese. Sounds very simple right? But it’s not common to make homemade
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Arabic Sweets
Barazek Ice Cream
I remember having black sesame ice cream for the first time at a Japanese restaurant in NYC and I immediately fell in love with the intense nutty flavor. At first, I thought it was a very odd ice cream choice, especially that its color is a muted dark grey, but it ultimately became one of
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Arabic Sweets
Barazek (Sesame Pistachio Cookies)
I don’t know where to start describing Barazek to people who are not familiar with this traditional Syrian pastry. The title of the post makes it seem like a simple recipe, but it’s definitely not your average everyday treat. The buttery crunchy texture of the thinly spread baked dough is contrasted with chewy toasted honey
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Desserts
Halawet El-Jibn (Sweet Cheese Rolls)
Making Lebanese desserts may seem impossible – especially if you live in an Arab country where the best sweets are readily available. But it’s not as hard as you think, and all the ingredients used for this Halawet El-Jibn recipe are not hard to find. I bet you’ll be surprised to know how easy it
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Arabic Sweets
Sfouf (Semolina Anise Tea Cake)
Sfouf is by far one of my favorite Lebanese desserts. It’s a moist cake characterized by its intense yellow color from the turmeric spice. It is made from semolina, flour, oil, sugar, and aniseed which gives it a distinctively awesome taste. Some people say it has a “magical” taste – and hey, I don’t disagree.
