Food Adventure: Quatayef

So. Remember that Date Cake? Well, for the same event, I also made these "Arabic Pancakes". These are a traditional dessert served for Ramadan. Never having used rose water before, I did have to track some down at the local import store. It definitely has a unique flavor (sort of perfume-y, as you might imagine) that evoked strong love/hate reactions from just about everyone that tried it. For being such a unique flavor, I found that I actually really liked it and would love to make these again! I found the recipe here and an alternate (that uses nuts and orange water) here. Now before you get completely nerved out by the long directions, keep in mind that it's a three-part recipe: the pancake batter (which is, surprisingly, a yeast dough), the cheese filling, and the rose water syrup. The rest is mostly assembling. So it's not a difficult recipe, but it is somewhat time-consuming, which you may want to keep in mind if you want to try it yourself. :D (And, if you do, please invite me over...)

The yummy ricotta filling:

Boiling up the rose water syrup. (One note on the syrup: I don't know what's traditional, obviously, but I would recommend halving the syrup portion of the recipe. Because there was A LOT left after I thoroughly drenched the pancakes... Just sayin'.)

Mmmmm. (And, yes, I do believe that IS "The Historian" open on the counter there...)

And I was so sad that I didn't get a shot of the finished Quatayef on the pretty silver platter! :( Ah, well. Guess it will give me an excuse to make them again.