Baalbek Specialty · Open Meat Pie
Safiha Baalbakieh
Photo: Bdx / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
You can spot a Baalbaki sfiha by its shape: instead of a round, flat pie, each piece is a small square with its four corners pinched up to hold in the meat's juices.
Small squares of thin dough are topped with minced lamb mixed with tomato, onion and often pomegranate molasses or yogurt, the corners pinched up into a little open box, then baked hot and fast until the edges crisp. Baalbek's bakeries, sitting on the old trade route between Damascus and the coast, are considered the dish's benchmark version.
Why it's made this way: Baalbek's position on a major Damascus-to-coast trade route helped its bakers build a reputation for this style of meat pie, distinct enough that Lebanese diners specifically seek out 'Safiha Baalbakieh.'
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