Growing up in my grandmothers house, I remember watching her hands gently folding butter into freckled pastry dough then waiting anxiously until the smell of cooked knafeh emerges from the oven like fresh hot bread. I never thought I would ever need to learn or make these dishes until I moved to California, 10 years ago. I didn't realize how much I missed the flavors of those desserts. And the challenge was remembering and perfectly implementing her techniques.
Soon after, I served my first creations to friends at dinner parties, the flavors and the aroma of orange blossom water seemed to delight them and I started getting compliments and encouragement to venture out and share what i had rediscovered.
I would like to dedicate this journey to my family and my friends and thank them for their support encouragement and their belief in my talent.
Welcome to a new fresh and exciting culinary dessert experience @ LeVant
-Maya Fezzani
From knafeh to baklava, Menlo Park baker brings Middle Eastern sweets to the Peninsula
Born in Lebanon, Maya Fezzani channels her roots with Levant Dessert
More than the taste of knafeh, Maya Fezzani remembers the movement of her grandmother's hands making the traditional Middle Eastern dessert.
Growing up in Lebanon and Syria, she'd watch her grandmother fold kataifi, shredded phyllo dough, in butter.
"It definitely was not hands-on because she didn't allow anyone in the kitchen, but it was all about seeing, tasting and smelling when she was baking," Fezzani recalled. "I was all eyes on her”.
Decades later and thousands of miles away, Fezzani channels her grandmother in a commercial kitchen in Menlo Park, where she preps and bakes all of the desserts for her Middle Eastern sweets company, Levant Dessert. Her hands fold unsalted butter into a tangle of frozen kataifi in a pan. She lines muffin tins with the mixture and layers each with cream or cheese and butter, then bakes them until they're golden and fill the kitchen with a toasty, sweet aroma….
Maya Fezzani fills her knafeh with organic cream or mozzarella and mascarpone cheeses. Photo by Sammy Dallal.