Sweets Of The Middle East

Loaded with nuts and doused in syrups, the pastries of the Middle East are renowned for their crunch and fragrance. Sticky fingers ahoy.

- Harriet Davidson

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 f in -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.