Pastilla ( ara, بسطيلة, basṭīla, also called North African pie) is a
North African
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
meat or seafood pie made with ''warqa'' dough (), which is similar to
filo
Filo or phyllo is a very thin unleavened dough used for making pastries such as baklava and börek in Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines. Filo-based pastries are made by layering many sheets of filo brushed with oil or butter; the pastry is then ...
. It is a specialty of
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
and
Algeria
)
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, relig ...
. It has more recently been spread by emigrants to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, and
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
.
History
The name of the
pie
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), brown sugar ( sugar pie), swe ...
comes from the Spanish word ''pastilla'', meaning in modern Spanish either "pill" or "small pastry" after the transformation of the phoneme "p" into "b" that is specific to the
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
language. The historian Anny Gaul attests to recipes that bear "a strong resemblance to the stuffing that goes inside modern-day bastila" in 13th century
Andalusi The Arabic '' nisbah'' (attributive title) Al-Andalusi denotes an origin from Al-Andalus. Al-Andalusi may refer to:
* Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati
* Ibn Hazm
* Ibn Juzayy
* Ibn 'Atiyya
* Said Al-Andalusi
Ṣāʿid al-Andalusī (); he was Abū al-Qāsi ...
cookbooks, such as
Ibn Razīn al-Tujībī's .
This recipe, in Gaul's words, calls for "cooking pigeon with cinnamon, almonds, saffron, onion, and eggs, as well as a double-cooking process similar to today's conventional recipe, by which the ingredients are first cooked in a pot and then finished in the oven."
The historian Idriss Bouhlila lists the dish as one of the
Ottoman Algeria
The Regency of Algiers ( ar, دولة الجزائر, translit=Dawlat al-Jaza'ir) was a state in North Africa lasting from 1516 to 1830, until it was French conquest of Algeria, conquered by the French. Situated between the Ottoman Tunisia, re ...
n foods that affected Tetuani cuisine as a result of an Algerian migration to
Tetuan in the aftermath of the
French invasion of Algiers in 1830, while acknowledging those who consider the dish to be of Andalusi origin.
Bouhlila's study corroborated Gaul's theory that the name of the dish—which according to Bouhlila is of Turkish origin—as well as the ''
werqa'' pastry used to make it, arrived with the Algerian migrants to Tetuan, and spread from there to the rest of Morocco sometime after 1830.
According to
Ken Albala
Ken Albala is Professor of History at the University of the Pacific (United States)
University of the Pacific (Pacific or UOP) is a private Methodist-affiliated university with its main campus in Stockton, California, and graduate campuses i ...
, the basic concept of pastilla was likely brought to Morocco by Moorish Muslims who left Spain in the 16th century, or perhaps earlier, because there had been considerable traffic between Morocco and Spain since the Moors conquered the latter in the seventh century.
According to historian of Jewish food,
Gil Marks Gilbert Stanley Marks (May 30, 1952 – December 5, 2014) was an American food writer and historian noted for his reference and cookbooks on the subject of Jewish food. He was the founding editor of ''Kosher Gourmet'' magazine. He moved to Israel ...
, pastilla origin is from
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
and was brought by sephardi Jews and, after the Ottoman version of "phyllo" called ''"warqa"'', reached the Maghreb, cooks substituted it for Spanish pastry. Sepharadi continued to pronounce the name with "p", while Arabic speakers substituted a "b" (bastila).
In Morocco, pastilla is generally served as a starter at the beginning of special meals,
and in one of two forms: one with poultry and one with seafood.
In Algeria, pastilla is usually made with chicken or with pigeon.
Poultry pastilla
Poultry pastilla was traditionally made of
squab
In culinary terminology, squab is an immature domestic pigeon, typically under four weeks old, or its meat. The meat is widely described as tastes like chicken, tasting like dark chicken. The term is probably of Scandinavian origin; the Swedish w ...
(fledgling
pigeon
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
s), but shredded
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...
is more often used today. It combines sweet and salty flavours; crisp layers of the
crêpe
A crêpe or crepe ( or , , Quebec French: ) is a very thin type of pancake. Crêpes are usually one of two varieties: ''sweet crêpes'' () or ''savoury galettes'' (). They are often served with a wide variety of fillings such as cheese, ...
-like ''werqa'' dough, savory meat slow-cooked in broth and spices and then shredded, and a crunchy layer of toasted and ground almonds, cinnamon, and sugar. The filling is made by browning the poultry in butter. Chopped onions, water, parsley, and various spices including saffron are added and the meat is simmered until tender. When cool, the meat is boned and the flesh shredded. The liquid is reduced and thickened with eggs to form a custard-like sauce. Meat and custard are often prepared the day ahead.
Blanched almonds are fried in oil, then crushed finely and mixed with powdered sugar and cinnamon. In a round baking pan, several pieces of the thin ''werqa'' or filo dough are layered, each brushed with melted butter, and overhanging the edge of the pan. The cook adds the egg mixture, places another buttered sheet of dough over it, adds the shredded meat, also covered with a sheet of dough, and then the almond mixture is added. The overlapping pieces of dough are folded over the filling, and another 2 pieces of buttered dough are added and tucked in around the edges of the pie. The pie is baked until heated through, and the layers of dough are brown. Powdered sugar and cinnamon are sprinkled over the top before serving hot.
Seafood pastilla
Seafood pastilla ( ary, بسطيلة الحوت, basṭīlat el-ḥūt) usually contains fish and other seafood, in addition to
vermicelli
Vermicelli (; , , also , ) is a traditional type of pasta round in section similar to spaghetti. In English-speaking regions it is usually thinner than spaghetti, while in Italy it is typically thicker.
The term ''vermicelli'' is also used to ...
. Unlike poultry pastilla, seafood pastilla is not sweet, but spicy.
Whereas poultry pastilla is dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon, seafood pastilla is usually dressed with a light sprinkle of shredded cheese and a few slices of lemon. This version of pastilla is often served at Moroccan weddings.
Pastilla with milk
In the traditional
Fassi cuisine, pastilla can also be served as a dessert, in which case, the pastilla is called ''Jowhara'' (, ''jewel'') or "Pastilla with milk". This pastilla is also made of warka and a milky cream put between the sheets. The Jowhara is flavored with
orange flower water
Orange flower
Orange flower water, or orange blossom water, is a clear aromatic by-product of the distillation of fresh bitter-orange blossoms for their essential oil.
Uses
This essential water has traditionally been used as an aromatizer in ...
and decorated with
cinnamon
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...
and sugar.
Sephardic Jewish version
Among
Moroccan Jews
Moroccan Jews ( ar, اليهود المغاربة, al-Yahūd al-Maghāriba he, יהודים מרוקאים, Yehudim Maroka'im) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews b ...
, pastilla is made with olive oil or margarine rather than butter to follow
kosher
(also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
rules against eating dairy products and meat at the same time.
An increasingly popular variant makes individual pastries rather than large pies.
See also
*
Moroccan cuisine
Moroccan cuisine () is the cuisine of Morocco, fueled by interactions and exchanges with many cultures and nations over the centuries. Moroccan cuisine is usually a mix of Arab, Berber, Andalusi, and Mediterranean cuisines, with minimal Europea ...
*
Algerian cuisine
The cuisine of Algeria is influenced by Algeria's interactions and exchanges with other cultures and nations over the centuries. It is characterized by a wealth derived from both land and sea products. Conquests or demographic movement towards ...
*
List of Moroccan dishes
This is a list of dishes in the Cuisine of Morocco. Entries in beige color indicate types of generic foods.
Main dishes
Salads
Condiments and sauces
Desserts
Drinks
See also
* Moroccan cuisine
Moroccan cuisine () is the cuisine of ...
*
List of Middle Eastern dishes
This is a list of dishes found in Middle Eastern cuisine, a generalized term collectively referring to the cuisines of the Middle East and the Maghreb region. The Middle East is home to numerous different cultural and ethnic groups. This diversity ...
*
List of pies, tarts and flans
This is a list of pies, tarts and flans. A pie is a baked or fried dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savory ingredients. A tart is a baked dish consisting of a fill ...
*
Andalusian cuisine
Andalusian cuisine is the cuisine of Andalusia, Spain. Notable dishes include gazpacho, fried fish (often called ''pescaíto frito'' in the local vernacular), the jamones of Jabugo, Valle de los Pedroches and Trevélez, and the wines of Jerez, pa ...
*
Sephardic Jewish cuisine
Sephardic Jewish cuisine is an assortment of cooking traditions that developed among the Sephardi Jews.
Those of this Iberian origin who were dispersed in the Sephardic Diaspora ultimately became the Eastern Sephardim and North African Sep ...
*
Berber cuisine
The Amazigh (Berber) cuisine is a traditional cuisine with a varied history and influence of numerous flavours from distinct regions across North Africa. The traditional cuisine draws influences from Morocco's Atlas mountains and heavily populated ...
*
Pigeon pie
Pigeon pie is a savoury game pie made of pigeon meat and various other ingredients traditional to French cuisine and present in other European cuisines. It has been eaten at least as early as 1670 in French cuisine.
Similar dishes to pigeon pie e ...
References
Footnotes
Citations
{{African cuisine
Savoury pies
Moroccan cuisine
Mediterranean cuisine
Sephardi Jewish cuisine
North African cuisine
Chicken dishes
Fish dishes
Maghrebi cuisine
Middle Eastern cuisine
Berber cuisine
Jewish cuisine
Algerian cuisine