The Cookery Corner featured Halima Boubakri, a Moroccan chef well-versed in regional flavours, having honed her craft in Morocco, UAE, and Yemen at some of the finest Moroccan restaurants. She made Chicken Pastilla, one of Morocco’s most iconic dishes.
Traditionally served on special occasions and festive gatherings, Chicken Pastilla – or B’stilla in Moroccan Arabic – artfully balances sweet and savoury flavours with aromatic spices and contrasting textures. While the traditional recipe uses pigeon or squab encased in warqa (a thin Moroccan pastry), Chef Halima prepared a version using chicken and phyllo pastry for accessibility.
This pie-like dish consists of layers of spiced chicken, caramelised onions, fluffy scrambled eggs, and crunchy almonds. The chicken is first cooked with onions, garlic, spices, and water, then seasoned with parsley and coriander. To enhance the dish’s sweetness, Chef Halima added cinnamon and coarse sugar before allowing the chicken to cool and then shredding it. Meanwhile, almonds were toasted to add an extra crunch.
Next, scrambled eggs and almonds were mixed into the filling, stirring until it reached the perfect consistency. A sheet of Bastilla pastry was then placed in a baking dish, filled with the chicken-almond mixture, and carefully wrapped. “It’s essential to line the Bastilla sheet with oil, not butter,” advised Chef Halima, ensuring the pastry held its shape and crisped perfectly. The dish was baked for 20 minutes until golden.
Once cooled, the chicken pie was elegantly garnished with a dusting of powdered sugar, cinnamon, and dried flowers. “This recipe has been passed down from my mother, who learned it from my grandmother. I’ve remained faithful to the tradition, without changing it for convenience or modern trends,” Chef Halima shared, pointing out the garnishing with dried flowers, a technique cherished in her family.
While the cinnamon sugar dusting is optional, it’s a beloved touch for many Moroccans, adding a hint of sweetness to the dish.
Chef Halima enjoys a global following, with over 17,000 Instagram followers who admire her culinary art and technique. She is among the 20 chefs featured at the book fair this year, bringing her expertise to visitors through interactive workshops.
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