New Waraka Recipes.

The View from Fez recieves a lot of emails about Moroccan food and when we were recently asked about what other things could be made from the wonderful waraka, we set our resident chef the task of creating some new recipes. Katerina Annels accepted the challenge and here is her report:

While in Fez I have discovered waraka, paper thin bread used for both savouries and sweets. Somewhat like filo (if you use a few layers) - this stuff is fantastic! Experimenting with ways to use waraka has become one of my goals for this trip to Fez.

Waraka is made with a dough of flour, water and oil, and heavily kneaded. This dough is then portioned, soaked in oil and then worked outwards until stretched to its limits. The process is similar to making chapatti, only the dough is not folded before being cooked. After reaching paper thin consistency, thin enough to see through, the waraka is cooked on heated half-meter egg-shaped stones.

B'stilla

Traditionally used for b’stilla (see story here) and little sweets, I wanted to experiment and over the course of a week made a series of dishes.

Waraka parcels (turkey and goats curd, and traditional kefta)

Spring rolls (Vietnamese style)

And fig and candied orange, bread and butter pudding

Some other ideas include samosas, using waraka as a cake lining (it works, I’ve since tried it, turns out every time), pies of all es, sausage rolls, spinach and feta rolls, sweet dried fruit millefeuilles, and a myriad different sweet pastries.

I love waraka as a pastry, it colours beautifully and becomes crisp and golden in the oven (to an extent usually reserved for deep fried food) And when you do deep fry it, it protects the filling from soaking up the oil far more effectively than any other pastry I have found.

You will find all The View from Fez recipes here: Moroccan Recipes