Making Moroccan chicken bastilla
Originally uploaded by Bellyglad
Moroccan bistilla (I've also seen it spelled "bastilla") is not a dish to be undertaken lightly--it requires a lot of separate components, an array of ingredients, and a bit of patience for working with the phyllo dough. Which is why I saved it for a weekend dinner with some of my favorite lady friends.
The bistilla is a traditional meat pie sweetened with cinnamon and sugar. In Morocco, it's often made with squab (ie. pigeon). In my kitchen, we stick to chicken.
Preparing bistilla begins with stewing and seasoning the meat, and then shredding it into tiny pieces. Some of the flavorful juices from the chicken are reserved for making an egg mixture not unlike scrambled eggs, but softer. The third component is crushed almonds that have been toasted in oil and mixed with sugar and cinnamon. These form the three layers of pie between sheets of phyllo dough brushed with butter.
The result is a sweet-savory pie encased in crispy leaves of phyllo and dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon. It contains more sticks of butter and cups of sugar than I care to mention, but it is a delectable special-occasion dish, and my friends seemed to enjoy it. The recipe I chose made enough for two pans of pie, so I sent everyone home with leftovers.
1 comments:
Ruth Reichl refers to it as "bisteeya" in "Tender at the Bone."
I've made it with chicken. I wonder what it's like with squab - gamier, I suppose?
Post a Comment