Halawet el Jibn
A cheese dessert genuinely rooted in Syria, most often attributed to Homs or Hama, though a strong competing claim exists in Lebanese Tripoli too, making it more honestly described as a shared Levantine sweet than a single uncontested city's invention. Its real technique is worth stating precisely since it's commonly misunderstood: the 'dough' isn't a flour pastry at all, but a cooked semolina-and-cheese mixture, sugar syrup boiled and thickened with semolina, then melted directly with shredded mild white cheese until it turns into a stretchy, pliable dough, physically closer to a cheese-pull than a rolled pastry. It's rolled while warm around ashta, clotted cream, into logs, sliced, and drenched in rose or orange-blossom syrup.
⚠ Contains: Dairy, Gluten, Tree Nut. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 cup fine semolina
- 300g shredded akkawi cheese (or low-salt mozzarella)
- 1 cup ashta (clotted cream) or thick cream
- Rose or orange blossom water
- Crushed pistachios, to garnish
Steps
- Boil the sugar, water, and lemon juice into a simple syrup.
- Stir the semolina into a portion of the hot syrup and cook until thickened.
- Add the shredded cheese to the hot semolina mixture and stir continuously until it melts and becomes a smooth, stretchy dough.
- While still warm, roll the dough out and cut into rectangles, then place a strip of ashta on each and roll into logs.
- Slice, drizzle with the remaining rose or orange blossom syrup, and garnish with crushed pistachios.