How does bisteeya make any sense?

Question

Anyone ever had it? Or tried the recipe featured on Chow just now? http://www.joepastry.com/2011/making-bisteeya/

I want to try it but I just can't make chicken, scrambled eggs and cinnamon toasted almonds go together in my head. 

I'm thinking maybe I'd try the roasted root veggie variation first time out for less Euro-centric clash of savory and sweet. But am I just being a weenie about this?

Answer

I've tried it once and it was fabulous. Definitely give it a go!

Answer

This is very similar to a Chinese mooncake made with shredded beef (or bbq meat) and nuts. Sweet and savory, and all wrapped up in a flaky pastry like crust.

Answer

I get why it seems like it won't work, but there is something addictive about the sweet and savory combination. Try it!

Answer

Rainey, it's not as sweet as teriyaki chicken, nor duck a l"orange, unless you make it that way. The most famous Moroccan restaurant in SF, Azizza, puts a lot of sugar in theirs, which I don't like as much as all the other Moroccan versions I've tried which only garnishes with a little sugar. 

It's also not tricky to make, if you're already familiar with filo dough. Just be sure to drain the chicken and eggs so you don't get it soggy. Have fun - it's delicious.

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Now, If you are in my area I will be happy to help you put one together and join you in eating it. If not. I say get a pal to help you out and have fun eating the beast! It is a treat to be shared!!!

Answer

I am not big fan of bisteeya particularly because I find it too sweet (which is my complaint with Moroccan cuisine generally), but if you find you like this combination, you might want to try Turkish chicken pudding next. Tavuk gogsu, being a dessert, works better with my palate.

Answer

It sounds weird to an American palate, but there's plenty of cuisines (particularly Middle Eastern) that combine meat, spices and sweet. Bisteeya is delicious. I've made a variation using spring roll wrappers - shrimp bisteeya spring rolls. Great party appetizer.

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i've seved it at parties and the plates get licked clean. you can adjust the sweetness factor to your preferences, too, ya know?

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One of my most favorite foods, and one that also goes over well at parties. I usually use Claudia Roden's recipe, which doesn't call for as much sugar as the linked recipe does, just a dusting with powdered sugar and cinnamon. That said, some people just don't care for sweet/savory combinations at all.
If you are comfortable working with filo dough, the only tricky part might be the eggs. You don't really want scrambled eggs. Adding your broth to the eggs helps make a nice custardy consistency.
The root vegetable version actually sounds horrible to me! To each her own, right?

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I've never made it but want to. Had it in a restaurant (served with sauteed wild mushrooms on top) and it was one of the best things I've ever eaten. The cinnamon and sugar were there, but only lightly.

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Watch some youtube videos - cooking with alia is a good one, she's moroccan. 

The stuff is actually good, we invested our time and effort and made it once and craved it every since.

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Try thinking of it as a brunch dish. I'm pretty sure it's an appetizer in Morocco, but I've served it as a brunch main course to people who were a little weirded out by the combo, and they loved it. Brunch is a good meal to mix sweet and savory things. BTW, I use less sugar than most recipes call for, but you do need some.

Answer

I love bastilla. If you'd like to try a simpler, Americanized take on the dish, this recipe (which I've made a few times) gives you an basic idea of what bastilla tastes like, without all the time & effort. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Moroccan-Style-Chicken-Phyllo-Rolls-108864

Answer

Since all these comments were made in 2011, I'm sure by now you have either tried or not tried to make bisteeya. But if you haven't, I want to tell you that I had it once in 1978 in a San Francisco Moroccan restaurant, and the whole experience -- sitting on cushions in a circle, eating with our fingers, having servers come around with elegant containers of rosewater to pour on our hands, which we dried with Turkish towels, and biting into that luscious chicken-miracle-pillow and a tabouleh kind of soup/salad -- was unforgettable. I have Paula Wolfort's book, but it's 13 pages of work, so I've never tried to make it. I did find a website, www.aglobalgarnish.com/, which has a simpler recipe based on Wolfort's that I'm going to try -- I have a yen for it.
All this to say that eating bisteeya was the top food experience of my life (and I've lived a long time). You don't want to miss this.

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How does bisteeya make any sense?

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