Is there anything better than flaky, crispy puff pastries? We truly don’t think so, and pastries from the Middle East are no exception. In fact, they’re some of the best in the world! Here’s a list of our favorite middle eastern pastries.
Bourekas
Bourekas are a super popular Jewish-Israeli pastry that can come in many shapes and sizes. The different shapes actually indicate what filling it has, so if you see triangular-shaped bourekas, you know it’s most likely stuffed with cheese. There are also bourekas with potato, pizza, or spinach fillings (all with their own shapes of course).
Baklava
Baklava is another mouth-watering Middle Eastern pastry. It’s a layered dessert with the top and bottom made of filo dough. The middle is layered with chopped nuts, like pistachios, and some sort of sweetener (usually honey or date syrup). This pastry is a popular dessert in Turkey, Iran, and other Arab nations.
Knafeh
Knafeh is a Middle Eastern dessert unlike any other. The pastry dough on this dessert is unique in that it’s spun, so it has a stringy texture rather than a flakey texture. It’s covered in syrup and often cooked with cheese. This makes for the most epic cheese pull of all time. And of course, it needs a topping, so usually, there’s some sort of nut or cream topping—pistachios are our favorite.