North & South (& Middle East)
Middle East food fans here in Middle Earth (apologies to international subscribers reading this) are in for a treat with the newly relaunched North & South magazine, the iconic masthead that was shut down during the lockdown in New Zealand and subsequently sold to a new owner.
The first new issue appears on newsstands this coming week. It contains, along with much else, a sumptuous spread on the cuisines of the Middle East and North Africa. Included in the section is a major review by Juliet Moses of one of the country’s best Lebanese restaurants, capsule reviews by yours truly of a half-dozen other dining destinations around the country, a nifty guide to Middle Eastern wine and a number of selected recipes from ace restaurateurs and food writers, including our friend Lindy Davis and Reza Rumi from Auckland’s wonderful Rumi.
It all rolls together pretty well. I know this as a fact rather than an opinion because, working alongside the new editor Rachel Morris, it happened to be my idea and I was the one who put the section together. Hopefully, that’s another good reason to support the reconstituted current affairs magazine. (The Leonard Cohen feature, which is pretty darn sharp, is another.)
In the meantime, here is one of the recipes I looked when deciding which dessert to include in the spread. It comes from Abdel El Adraoui, the head chef at Wellington’s Marrakech Café, a popular Moroccan eatery in my hometown.
Moroccan Baklava
Ingredients
150g butter
450g ground almonds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
5 teaspoons blossom water
1 egg
150g caster sugar
375g filo pastry
Icing sugar, to dust
Cinnamon, to dust
Method
Preheat oven to 200℃.
In a bowl melt 50g of the butter, then add the ground almonds, cinnamon, blossom water, egg and caster sugar. Mix everything well until it forms a paste. It must not be too sticky- if it does become too sticky, add more ground almonds.
Open the filo pastry. While you are working with the pastry, cover it with a clean damp cloth to stop it from drying out.
Melt the remaining 100g of butter. Lay out a stack of three sheets of pastry; each serving needs three sheets. Brush the top sheet with butter.
Place small balls of paste, about the thickness of your index finger, in a line 4cm away from the shorter edge of the pastry. Making small balls, rather than one long line of paste, means that the pastry is easier to roll into a coil.
Roll the pastry up over the paste, then wind the rolled pastry into a coil. Just like a snake. Repeat, using three sheets of pastry each time, until there is no paste left- it should make about 15 servings. Brush the top of each coil of pastry with melted butter.
Brush an oven tray with butter, so the pastry doesn't stick to. Place the m’hancha on the tray, and bake them in the oven for 20-30minutes until they are golden brown. If they are not ready, bake them for another 5 minutes.
Dust them with icing sugar and cinnamon and serve with coffee or tea. You can serve them warm or cold.
Put any leftover filo pastry back in the bag, seal it so it won't dry out, and store it in the fridge. You can also keep leftover paste, if it is sealed in a bag. It will keep for one week in the fridge, if covered properly, or you can freeze it for two to three months.
M’hancha will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container, but it is best to eat them when you first make them. (Makes 15)