So we don't usually have dessert when we come to this Turkish-Mediterranean place at the basement of Far East Plaza.
But today (on account of a special celebration), we did.
I was surprised when my friend chose this over the baklava.
I had thought baklava was the go-to favorite at any Turkish restaurant.
But then this came.
And now, dear friends, here to my very short list be my newest favorite, all-out-will-support dessert that I won't mind having any day thereafter.
Kunefe, or Knafeh, is probably one of the more unique desserts from the Middle East region.
I don't know which name on the menu this dessert went by.
But I think it must have been Kunefe.
Because that's how the Turkish call it, and we were having this at The Mediterranean Deli Turk at Far East Plaza.
Kunefe is the name of this cheese-based dessert consisting of a disc made out of wiry shreds of pastry, served hot with the cheese in between, topped with pistachios, almonds and walnuts, and which sits solidly like an island in a thick sea of clotted cream.
I'm not sure if the sea of creamy, ivory-white that I had here that afternoon was clotted cream.
I don't think so.
It didn't taste like it.
What it did taste like, however, was the local coffee shop favorite of evaporated milk.
If you thought that the difference between clotted cream and evaporated milk deviated the taste by a whole lot, nope, it didn't.
Rather, I think the taste of evaporated milk enhanced it.
I had no fear of overwhelming sweetness.
And neither did I have to worry that the clotted cream would make me feel too full.
I have nothing but praise for this dessert, I tell you.
My first taste of this still-hot Kunefe gave me such a burst of sensations, not only wrapping me entirely in the embrace of her comforting warmth, but, after that, giving me the fun of feeling the crisp, (crunchy?) wiry oodles of noodles pastry melt away so easily on my tongue.
It took me a while before I began to feel the sweet pastry blend perfectly with the slightly (salty) taste of creamy milk.
And after that I was completely sold.
There is no dessert that I've had so far which includes such delicate crisp with the rich texture of gently heated evaporated milk.
There is also no dessert that I've had so far that gives you multiple sensations of crisp, creamy, sweet, salty, hot, and cold- at the same time.
For the entire time I engrossed myself in breaking off parts of the pastry with my spoon, scooping it up with the evaporated milk, and carving out little slivers from the coconut ice cream.
I paid attention to nothing else.
It didn't matter to me that amongst the sprinkles of almond chips and pistachio bits there didn't seem to be any walnuts.
Or that I might have missed out on the orange blossom water even though I know there was a tinge of orange.
I simply loved the whole thing.
It's not every day that one gets a post-meal treat where the textures get woven so seamlessly together as the flavors juxtapose so effortlessly.
I'm glad to have had it.
Because Kunefe is a unique, lovely, strong-tasting, yet gentle dessert. and just like how I fell in love with mochi waffles a couple of years ago, I've fallen in love (even more) with this culturally-rich, Middle Eastern dessert too.