Briouat

Ingredients

Pastry

• 20 sheetswarqa, or filo
• 1egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp water, to seal
• 1 litreoil, for frying

Meat filling

• 400 gminced beef or lamb
• 1onion, grated
• 2 tbspchopped parsley
• 2 tbspchopped coriander
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tsppaprika
• ½ tspras el hanout
• ½ tspground cinnamon
• 2eggs, beaten
• salt and pepper

Almond filling

• 300 gblanched almonds
• 100 gicing sugar
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• 2 tbsporange blossom water
• 30 gbutter, melted

For the sweet ones

• 400 ghoney
• 1 tbsporange blossom water
• toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. For the meat filling, fry the mince with the grated onion and the spices until it is genuinely dry and there is no liquid left in the pan at all. Wet filling steams the pastry from the inside and the parcels burst open in the oil.
2. Take it off the heat, stir in the herbs and the beaten eggs, and return it to a low heat for 2 minutes until the egg sets. The egg is what binds the filling so that it stays inside the triangle.
3. For the almond filling, fry the almonds in a little oil until golden, drain them well, then grind to a coarse paste with the icing sugar, cinnamon, orange blossom water and melted butter, and roll it into small fingers.
4. Cut the warqa into strips about 8 cm wide, keeping the rest covered with a damp cloth as you work.
5. Put a spoonful of filling at one end of a strip, fold the corner across to make a triangle, then keep folding that triangle over and over along the length of the strip, the way you would fold a flag.
6. Seal the final flap with the egg yolk paste and tuck the tail inside the parcel rather than leaving it loose. A loose tail unwinds in the oil and the filling escapes.
7. Heat the oil to 170°C (340°F), which is lower than you might expect, because warqa takes colour within seconds and the filling is already cooked.
8. Fry in small batches for 2 to 3 minutes, turning them, until pale gold, then drain on a rack.
9. For the sweet ones, warm the honey with the orange blossom water and drop the briouats straight from the oil into it for a minute, then lift them out onto a rack and scatter with sesame seeds. They must go in hot: a cold briouat sits in the honey without absorbing any of it.
10. Serve the savoury ones at the opening of a diffa and the sweet ones with mint tea.

Technique

• Dry filling, tucked tail, moderate oil. Almost every briouat that fails does so for one of those three reasons.
• Warqa is the same paper-thin pastry used for pastilla, worked on a hot dome rather than rolled, and it is worth buying ready-made.
• Sweet briouats keep for a week in a tin; savoury ones are best within the hour.

Substitutions

• Two layers of filo in place of one of warqa, which is thicker but holds up better to handling.
• Spring roll wrappers, which fold cleanly though they fry crisper and less flaky.

Variations

• Filled with chicken, preserved lemon and green olives.
• Filled with goat cheese and herbs, folded into cigars rather than triangles.
• Brushed with egg and baked at 200°C (400°F) for 15 minutes, which is lighter and noticeably less good.

History

Folded from the same paper-thin warqa pastry used for pastilla; savoury ones open a diffa banquet and sweet almond ones are served at weddings.

Frequently asked questions

What is Briouat?

Briouat is a snack from Morocco: triangular warqa parcels fried around minced meat, cheese or almond paste. Folded from the same paper-thin warqa pastry used for pastilla; savoury ones open a diffa banquet and sweet almond ones are served at weddings.

How long does Briouat take to make?

Briouat takes 1 hr of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 30 parcels. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Briouat?

Yes, within limits. Two layers of filo in place of one of warqa, which is thicker but holds up better to handling. Spring roll wrappers, which fold cleanly though they fry crisper and less flaky.

What is the most important thing to get right in Briouat?

Seal the final flap with the egg yolk paste and tuck the tail inside the parcel rather than leaving it loose. A loose tail unwinds in the oil and the filling escapes.