Brick Brik Malsouka Warka etc

I've been trying to hunt down some brik/brick pastry, a North African pastry for a while. I saw Matt Moran on Masterchef make a dish using this pastry. I found it unexpectedly at Key Ingredients in Clifton Hill. I went there for something else and as I was walking out I asked if woman behind the counter if they had some brik pastry. She said I was the first person who'd asked for it. She has it in the freezer and imports it from France.

I had also wondered if Bas Foods may have some. They didn't but they did have phyllo/filo and yufga. Might try using them another time.

In my Googling and searching I found a recipe that looked and sounded very appealing. B'stilla (a North African/Middle Eastern spiced chicken pie) from Zen Can Cook which uses brick/brik and another B'stilla recipe that Ruth Reichal learnt on her documentary program 'Adventures with Ruth'. This show is on Foxtel in Australia and it's called 'Cooking School' here (and it is a really good food/travel show with recipes on the website). Haalo over at Cook Anything Once talked about this pastry in 2007. The pastry is also known at warka and malsouka.

I decided to use Zen Can Cook's recipe because he uses the brik pastry. One of the ingredients in the dish is ras el hanout. He gives a recipe for it, but I had a pack in the pantry from a shopping expedition to Key Ingredients (a previous visit). I'm a repeat visitor to this place too.

Key Ingredients stocks a range of herbs and spices that are ground and mixed in Seddon under the name Spice Bazaar. Spice Bazaar sell their products through quite a variety of places in Victoria and a couple of places interstate. I spoke to the owner and she talked about the products they have and I asked her about the cooking school of the same name and she said that her husband runs the cooking school (79 Victoria St, Seddon). They also have wattle seed in their range which I used recently.

So here are my b'stilla's.

A bit rustic, probably need to be a bit thinner. But once you sprinkle on the sugar and cinnamon...oh my goodness they are good. Each bite gets you some crispy pastry, chicken, spicy egg, pieces of almond and sweet cinnamon. A savoury dish with a sugary finish is the perfect meal for a sweet-tooth such as myself.

Will definitely make this again. Have put the leftovers in the freezer so hopefully they will reheat okay. Thanks for the recipe Zen Can Cook!