Sweets Capital · Cheese & Cream Rolls
Halawet el Jibn
Photo: 白と赤茶 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Even its hometown is disputed — Syrian bakers in Homs and Hama both claim they invented it — but Tripoli's confectioners adopted it so thoroughly it now sits beside knafeh in nearly every souk shop window.
A dough of semolina, sugar, and stretched cheese is rolled thin, wrapped around a log of fresh ashta cream, and cut into short cylinders drenched in rose-scented syrup and crushed pistachios. It's a fixture in Tripoli's souk sweets-shop windows.
Why it's made this way: The dessert crossed over from Syria's Homs and Hama sometime in the 19th or 20th century, and Tripoli's confectioners — already known for cheese-based sweets — folded it permanently into their repertoire.
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