Kanafeh

I have good and bad news. The good news is I had the best dessert ever last night, the bad news is I didn't have my camera with me...But I will still try to put into words the deliciousness of this food and recreate the scene as best as possible

So it was about 10:30 in the evening when Gwen and I are picked up by her friend Amir to go get some coffee or tea to get out of the apartment for a bit. For the past couple of days we had been passing sweet shops, and as a glorified sugar addict I was dying to try some of the local desserts. The most well known sweet shop is called Habiba, and it didn't take long to convince them that we needed to go there. There are a few Habiba's in Amman but the original is in the section called Balad which is the downtown area, and a little sketchy at night. Luckily we had guy with us so it was fine. Anyways, we drive into Balad find somewhere to park which is almost anywhere, because I have yet to observe any sort of parking laws

Then in lit up alleyway with tons of people standing around with the rest of the streets being almost empty, we find Habiba and the line is out the door and filled with Shabab (Young Men who are most likely to yell things at you). Seeing this line Amir directs us to "stand somewhere safe" while he gets in line for the kanafeh. As Gwen and I post up against a well lit wall, next to a family (always the safest place to be) we watch plate after plate, of what I think to be a strange desert which I am not sure if I actually want to try.

Finally after a fairly long wait he comes back with three plates of the stuff, I still have no idea what it is but I take a bite anyways...... AND OH MY GOSH, it was good, like really really good. Basically what it is, is a layer of cheese covered in sugar that is baked so the cheese is melty and the sugar caramelized, topped with pistachios and a sugary syrup. Its way to much, but awesome at the same time, way to many calories to eat often but I have to go back at least once right? to get pictures.....

Even if the dessert hadn't been great, which it was, the atmosphere of the whole experience was well worth it. Here are some pictures I could on google images, the one with the large pan was actually taken at the Habiba shop.