Sooo Sweet6/7 254 Kingston Rd,
Brisbane, Qld, (07) 3209 1100,
sooosweet.com.au.
Balha’s Pastry761 Sydney Rd,
Brunswick, Vic, (03) 9383 3944,
balhaspastry.com.au.
Adelaide Lebanese Bakery67 Chapel
St, Thebarton, SA, (08) 8234 9545,
adelaidelebanesebakery.com.au.
Little Lebanon Café13a Wanneroo
Road, Joondanna, WA, (08) 9444 1913,
littlelebanon.com.au.
Abla’s Pastries48 Railway Pde,
Granville, NSW, (02) 9637 8092,
ablaspastries.com.au.Find
some2
1
KOL WA SHKOR
/ kolsh-kor /
Often served on special
occasions, and traditionally
made with layers of fillo pastry
wrapped around ground cashew,
kol wa shkor, translates as “eat
and be thankful”. It’s made with
much less sugar than regular
baklava, with orange blossom
syrup bringing the sweetness.2
LADIES’ FINGERS
/ lay-deez fin-gers /
There are a number of
variations of this finger-shaped
baklava. Greece and Cyprus,
for instance, have daktyla,
a deep-fried version filled with
almonds, cinnamon and sugar.
In Lebanon they’re called znoud
el-sit and are filled with ashta,
an Arabic clotted cream.3
MA’AMOUL
/ ma-mool /
Pressed by hand in a
wooden mould, the ma’amoul,
which means stuffed in Arabic,
differs depending on the time of
year or the celebration. Date paste
is the most common filling for this
biscuit, though nuts may make an
appearance at the end of fasting
or on festive occasions.4
BAKLAWA
/ bak-la-wah /
A Middle Eastern classic,
this pastry has many variations,
whether its in the nuts used
(pistachio nuts, walnuts or
almonds) or its shape, be
it diamond, cigar or floret.5
OSH EL BULBUL
/ ush-el-bul-bul /
Osh el bulbul gets its
name from the Arabic for bird’s
nest, after the shape of the
pastry. The nest is filled with
pistachio or pine nuts then
baked and doused in syrup.6
BASMA
/ bas-mah /
Fragrant with orange
blossom water, the basma is made
with knafeh pastry that has been
dried, crushed and then bound
together. A sticky layer of crushed
cashew, pistachio or pine nuts sits
between the two layers of knafeh.7
BALURIE
/ bal-law-ri-yeh /
The vermicelli-like texture
of balurie comes from shredded
fillo pastry. These crunchy threads
sandwich roughly chopped
pistachio nuts in rosewater syrup.The word balurie means glow,
per the colour of the knafeh.8
BURMA
/ bur-mah /
Burma comprise a thick
layer of knafeh dough twisted
around chopped pistachio, pine
and cashew nuts. Golden and
chewy, they’ll often be the first
things to disappear from a plate
of pastries.●Loaded with nuts and
doused in syrups, the
pastries of the Middle
East are renowned
for their crunch and
fragrance. Sticky
ingers ahoy.
WORDS HARRIET DAVIDSON. PHOTOGRAPHY ALICIA TAYLOR.STYLING ROSIE MEEHAN. ALL PROPS STYLIST’S OWN. SWEETS FROM ABLA’S PASTRIES
GOURMET TRAVELLER 35