Anissa, Shane and the Snake

Gourmet Worrier has opened many doors for me both personally and professionally and has changed my life in ways that I could have never dreamt or imagined. I mean, who would have thought that in such a short space of time I would be interviewing on national radio, writing for an international newspaper or launching a touring company?  

I know I didn't!

Blogging has also allowed me to connect with all sorts of interesting and inspiring people from around the world, such as fellow bloggers and writers and also talented chefs, food producers and artisans.

Last week I had the great pleasure of meeting and spending the day with Anissa Helou and managed to introduce her to my good friend Shane. I must pause to say that Anissa is far more delightful and funny in person than I had anticipated and I hope that the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival will try and get her out next year, as she absolutely loves Melbourne, despite the twenty plus hour flight!

Hence, the pistachio and rosewater pastry filled M'hencha, is a bit of a tribute to my two friends, as they have both inspired me over the years to venture into and thus fall in love with Middle Eastern and North African cuisine.

In Morocco M'hencha, meaning snake, is made with warka or brick pastry, but I find that it turns out a little dry if it is baked and not deep fried. If you are going to try this recipe then I would suggest that you follow Claudia Roden's (another inspiring person I hope to meet) advice and use filo pastry instead, as the end result is absolutely stunning!

Pistachio and Rosewater M'Hencha

The assembling process is similar to my Moroccan Serpent pie, in fact that pie is basically a savoury adaptation of the famous Moroccan M'henca pastry.

Adapted from Arabesque + Anissa

For the filling

750g ground pistachios

500g caster sugar

40g unsalted butter, melted

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

150ml rose water

For the pastry

One 375g packet of filo pastry

60g unsalted butter, melted

1 organic egg yolk, for glazing

Icing sugar, to decorate

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4 and grease a 30cm round baking dish with some melted butter and set aside.

2. Mix all the filling ingredients together and work them into a paste using your hands. Divide into 20 equal pieces and roll each into a ball, before rolling into 'fingers' about 2cm thick.

3. Take a sheet of filo pastry and lightly brush the top with a little melted butter. On the top of the sheet, place the pistachio and rosewater 'finger' along the lower edge of the filo sheet, about 2cm from the edge nearest to you. Roll the sheet of filo up over the filling into a long, thin roll, tucking the ends in to stop the filing from oozing out.

4. Lift the roll carefully and place it in the baking dish starting from the outer edge of the dish, spiral the roll inwards. Repeat the process and continue to spiral the pistachio and rosewater filled filo rolls ensuring that the base is covered, making it look like a coiled snake.



5. Brush the coiled pastry snake with the egg yolk mixed with a tablespoon of water and bake in a pre-heated oven for 30-40 minute until crisp and golden brown.

6. Allow the pastry to cool and then sprinkle with plenty of icing sugar. Cut the pastry as you would a cake, in wedges of varying size. The pistachio and rose water M'hencha is very rich, so serve small pieces - to begin with.

Nanette Johnson is a food and travel writer from Australia and Editor-in-Chief for Gourmet Worrier. You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter