FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

• What are the variations of Pastilla?

  The seafood pastilla (in Moroccan Arabic: بسطيلة الحوت, romanized: basṭīlat el-ḥūt) usually contains fish and other seafood, along with sha‘īriyya (a kind of wheat vermicelli).
  Unlike chicken pastilla, it is not sweet but spicy.
  It is often garnished with a light sprinkle of grated cheese and a few lemon slices.
  This version is often served at Moroccan weddings.
  
  In traditional Fassi cuisine, pastilla can also be served as a dessert and is called Jowhara (جوهرة, jewel) or “Pastilla with milk”.
  This is also made with warqa and a milk cream.
  The Jowhara is flavored with orange blossom water and decorated with cinnamon and sugar.
  
  Among Moroccan Jews, pastilla is prepared with olive oil or margarine instead of butter, to adhere to Kashrut laws, which strictly forbid eating dairy and meat together.
  
  In Jewish Moroccan cuisine from Casablanca, it includes sautéed onions in the filling.
  Modern Israeli adaptations sometimes use filo sheets and shape the dish into cigars.
  An increasingly popular variant involves preparing individual pastries instead of large pies.

• What is warqa pastry?

  Malsouka (Arabic: ملسوقة, also malsouqa) or warqa (Arabic: ورقة), also known as brik sheets (Arabic: ورق البريك, French: feuilles de brick) or bourek sheets (ورق البوراك) or dioul (Arabic: ديول), is a Maghrebi pastry that resembles fillo.
  
  It is thicker than filo and, unlike it, is made by spreading very thin layers of batter on a heated pan rather than rolling out raw dough.
  
  There are many uses for the dough, including tagine malsouka, pastilla, samsa (a sweet typical of Algerian and Tunisian cuisine made with some pastry layers similar to puff pastry and filled with chopped almonds and sesame seeds, then fried or baked), brik (the North African version of burek), and baklava.

• What are the differences between Moroccan Pastilla and Tunisian Tajine Malsouka?

  1. Filling Consistency
  Pastilla (Morocco): It is a layered pie. You find distinct layers of shredded chicken, an egg and onion cream, and a crunchy layer of almonds. It is dry and airy.
  Tajine Malsouka (Tunisia): It is a bound pie. The filling is a single mixture where meat, potatoes, and cheese are soaked in many beaten eggs. Once cooked, the interior is compact and moist, similar to a tall, fluffy omelet.
  
  2. Flavor Profile (Sweet vs Savory)
  Pastilla: Lives on the sweet-savory contrast. Cinnamon and powdered sugar are as prominent as chicken and saffron.
  Tajine Malsouka: It is strictly savory. There is no sugar. The dominant flavors are melted cheese, parsley, and the sharp tang of capers (often present in the Tunisian version).
  
  3. Star Ingredient
  Pastilla: The fried and chopped almond. Without the crunchy and sweet part, it is not a Pastilla.
  Tajine Malsouka: The egg and cheese. In Tunisia, as many as 8-10 eggs can be used for one pie, making it much more nourishing and “heavier” than its Moroccan cousin.
  
  4. Pastry
  Both use the same pastry (called Ouarka or warqa in Morocco and Malsouka in Tunisia), but:
  In Pastilla, the pastry is a light wrapper that must “crunch” at the slightest touch.
  In Tajine Malsouka, the pastry acts as a true “edible pan,” needing to support the weight of a dense, moist filling, so it is often brushed with much more butter or oil to withstand baking.
  
  Note: While “Tajine” in Morocco is the stew in the earthenware pot, in Tunisia, the term Tajine refers almost exclusively to a baked savory pie like this or like the tajine maadnous.