Venous

Lovely bakery in Korba on Baghdad street. Great selection of pastries for great prices. My favorites are the date cookies covered in sesame seeds and the cheese croissants. I have no idea why the name is spelt like this, it is something I'd expect to read in a hospital (venous: as in related to veins), I assume the intention was something different... Maybe a misspelling of Venus?? Goddess of love, because you will love their food??? No idea. Either way their baking is better than their spelling which is what really counts. :-)

Eid Sweets

Kahk is not the only sweet stockpiled and devoured during Eid. There are many many delights consumed during this sweet holiday season. During the Eid prayer, people walk amongst the people praying and hand out sweet dates, bonbons, cookies, etc. Here is a picture of a few of the festive offerings from the bakeries:

Kahk

Kahk is an Arabian dessert eaten at Eid-ul-Fitr that reminds me of cookies that my grandmother used to make us at Christmas-time in Canada: buttered walnut-balls. The walnut balls are more round (Kahk is flattened a bit), they were also much more "solid" and dry (Kahk on the other hand is very light and melts in your mouth). Apart from that they are just about the same, although most Kahk don't have walnuts in them (though you can find some with crushed nuts in the center, or with dates or other jellies).

Kahk ready to go home!

Rows upon rows of deeeeeelicious Kahk

You can try to make them yourselves by following this Kahk recipe from Al Ahram.

Koneifa

Koneifa is soooooooooo fabulous. And when it is mixed with a layer of eshta, it skyrockets right off the fabulousness chart.

Pistachios top off the rapturous perfection that is Koneifa with Esta

Basically, Koneifa is tiny bits of shredded phyllo dough baked and covered with gooey sugary love. It sort of reminds me of eating Shredded Wheat cereal - but only a whole lot more yummy and sinful for the waistline.

Desserts with Eshta and Dates

The sweetest combination of desserts - Eshta and Dates together. Yum.
Often, as in the picture below, also combined with vanilla ice cream, pistachios/slivered almonds, some cake or creamy rice pudding. The dates often make me feel less guilty about the calories for some reason. Mind you, I've been told that the Eshta - in small doses - is actually very healthy also, full of Vitamin A, and of course, calcium.

Fateera

This is my daughter's favorite food, after pizza and moloheya (see an upcoming post for moloheya).

Fateera is made by this ultra thin buttery pastry cooked in layers (a bit like phyllo), with lovely cheese, vegetables and olives stuffed inside it. There are so many variations on this - with chicken, beef, tuna or sweet versions filled with apples. You can also eat thick layers of fateera on its own, as a nice (fattening) breakfast, dipped in honey or molasses (what they call black honey here in Egypt).

Petit Fours

Personally, I love petit fours. You have a nice taste of sweetness, without the guilt or temptation of eating a full cake. In Egypt all the major bakeries make a large variety of petit fours. Mostly, they are just fabulous. (These pictures come from my favorite bakery - no names! - in Heliopolis - can you guess which one?).