A small portion of kanafeh at a restaurant in Amman
I’m ashamed to say that it took me almost one month to discover this sweet, cheesy dessert after moving to Jordan. Originally from Nablus, a Palestinian city apparently known for “high cuisine,” kanafeh is one of those things that they just can’t make fast enough. At one famous shop called Habibah in downtown Amman there is always a line, and it’s even a bit stressful ordering there unless you know what you’re doing!
You haven’t lived until you and your friends have eaten seventeen different colors of rice, meat, and sauces while sitting on the floor at the Bab al-Yemen restaurant in Amman. If my experience is anything to go by, every item on the menu is downright delicious — including the humongous, flame-kissed flatbread that would be almost as fascinating to see being made as it was to eat.
There’s a shop in Amman’s main market downtown that sells traditional Arabic sweets. I’m not sure who was more excited about this half-kilogram of baklava (which is called “baklawa” in Arabic) — me, or the jovial young Jordanian selling it.
