One of my chefs was watching Jamie Oliver in morocco the other night and was taken by Jamies 18 attempts at making a skinny round pastry like filo which was then spread with a Pistacio, Rose Petal and Honey, Almond paste then rolled up and coiled like a large danish. I knew straight away the pastry was fils De brick a north African pastry made from flour and water that is used in making a traditional north african dish with pigeon called pastillas. As it happened we had a couple of packets in the freezer why not give it a try so off the cuff no recipe we gave it a go we didn't have Rose petals but we had Rose syrup which made do as a substitute. the authentic Moroccan El Mahanche is made with a very large coil that is sliced into tart like portions we made individual portions as they had to be baked Ala minute and we didn't think customers would be queuing up to order a dessert called the coiled snake. The picture shows the first one we made we later added a date, prune and apricot compote made with tea which worked well if perhaps a bit breakfasty. we only found out that evening when our Moroccan waiter Abdou came in we showed him what we made and put the name on it straight away which meant we hadn't done a bad job. Imagine how chuffed i was when i went home that night and found that the traditional accompaniment to El Mahanche is prune and date compote i would bet that our breakfast dishes are derived from a Moroccan dessert and not the other way around. After a slow start when customers didnt know what it was the coiled snake sold very well and spent a few weeks on the menu.
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