Dear LPG readers, 

As ever, when I found myself in the kitchen doing my best to highlight a bit of this month’s national independence in a culinary way, things went predictably, but it was not all bad.  Those who read about my monthly kitchen mishaps regularly will remember that I planned to let the spotlight fall on Libya this month. As their independence falls on Christmas Eve, I decided on a sweet dish when settling on something to eat.

So far, I have never been able to mention an utterly successful kitchen session when working on these recipes. This month will not change that aspect of bringing you something different, even though it all looked so easy on paper. 

I used my usual preparation skills when deciding which dish to try. As the big day coincided with our Christmas Eve celebration, I thought something sweet would be fitting.  

To my mind, this dish of Libyan Diblah fits the bill perfectly. Having looked at the ingredients, I could only see one I had not heard of. So, I went to the shop in Catford, where I can nearly always get a bottle, tin, or jar of something I have never heard of. They did not disappoint. 

The dough-making went surprisingly well, and when I compared mine with the one on the video, there was a real resemblance between the two pictures. However, things started to go wrong when I tried to recreate the flower shape of the little pastries in the frying pan. Trying to create artistic flower shapes while what you are working with was submerged in a pan of hot oil was more difficult than I expected, and you can see that my little flowers collapsed as a result.  

I must admit to having left the dipping syrup on too long. It was fine when hot, but as it cooled, it created an extra layer of coating in my already Teflon-coated saucepan, which finally came away after an hour or two of soaking. 

I got my taste testers to close their eyes so they could taste without seeing what a mess I had made artistically. My little productions went down well, although there were some questionable looks when they compared the picture from the recipe with mine.     

January and Morocco’s Proclamation of Independence Day are just around the corner.  The 11th will give me an excuse to make something from that part of the world (or at least try my best to).  So, having looked at the recipe ingredients and noticing that I bought the one I wouldn’t have had but for the fact that I needed to buy some when I was attempting this month’s extravaganza, I look forward to sharing the results of my attempt at producing a plate of Moroccan Chicken Bastilla or Pastilla.

Happy Christmas to all… 

CB, Lewihsam 

CB shares her findings about going Moroccan…

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