Warqa

After making couscous from this book using the Moroccan method, I thought I had found the one recipe I would never make again....until this one : ). But I had to try it once!

These are pastry leaves that are thinner than fillo, made mainly from high gluten flour (I used Robin Hood Best for Bread) and water with a little oil and cider vinegar/lemon juice included. The batter is whizzed together in the food processor and allowed to rest overnight.

The cooking method involves brushing a non-stick pan with the batter and allowing the steam from a pot of boiling water to heat the pan and cook the pastry. The pastry is then removed from the pan (it’s cooked on 1 side only), oiled and the leaves are stacked between paper towels. With the oiling, the leaf goes from slightly opaque to transparent.

I found the batter to be very glutinous and elastic and had difficulty spreading it thinly and evenly on the hot pan before it started to cook; I had more control when I worked with a slightly cooler pan off the heat. Even then, most layers weren’t perfectly even.

I found photos/instructions on Joe Pastry’s site.....he uses Paula Wolfert’s recipe and method except that he adds an extra ¼ cup water and doesn’t allow the overnight rest. His batter seems thinner, and smoother. Here’s the link: http://www.joepastry.com/2011/making-warqa-a-k-a-brik-pastry/

I made 20 leaves. I required 16 leaves to make “The Snake” (page 470) - 1 of my spares was used to patch the torn sheets : ).

This was 1 recipe where I found the author’s instructions to be very clear…..I just wish there were actual photos instead of drawings.