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Baked and breads

Fatayer bi jibneh

Small Levantine pastries filled with white cheese, parsley and nigella seed, baked in bakeries every morning.

Fatayer bi jibneh are small baked pastries of soft bread dough filled with white cheese, usually akkawi, feta or halloumi, mixed with parsley and nigella seed. They are shaped as boats or triangles and baked until golden. Levantine bakeries sell them warm in the morning, and families bake them for gatherings and Ramadan evenings.

What goes in

Akkawi: 29%29%Feta or halloumi: 12%12%Bread dough: 41%41%Parsley: 6%Nigella seed: 6%Egg: 6%6parts
  • Akkawi529%, Mild white melting cheese.
  • Feta or halloumi212%, Salt and texture.
  • Bread dough741%, Soft, made with olive oil.
  • Parsley16%, Chopped.
  • Nigella seed16%, Faintly bitter, aromatic.
  • Egg16%, Binds the filling.

Rough parts by weight. The ring shows each ingredient's share of the dish.

Made step by step

Each drawing shows the operation for that step. Quantities and timings differ from house to house; this is one traditional way, in outline.

  1. Step 1: Knead Knead a soft dough of flour, yeast, olive oil, milk and water, and let it rise.
  2. Step 2: Grate Soak salty cheeses briefly, then crumble or grate them.
  3. Step 3: Knead Mix the cheese with parsley, nigella seed and egg.
  4. Step 4: Fill Roll small rounds of dough, add filling and shape into boats or triangles.
  5. Step 5: Bake Bake in a hot oven until golden.
  6. Step 6: Serve Serve warm.
  7. Akkawi: 29%29%Feta or halloumi: 12%12%Bread dough: 41%41%Parsley: 6%Nigella seed: 6%Egg: 6%
    Finished Fatayer bi jibneh, by share.

A family of pies

Fatayer means pies, and they come with many fillings: spinach with sumac, minced meat, za'atar, or cheese. The cheese versions are the mildest and the most loved by children. They are related to manakish, the flatbreads of Lebanon, which are also topped with akkawi, and to the many filled pastries of Turkey and the Arab world.

The cheese mix

Bakers often blend cheeses: akkawi for a soft melt, a little feta for saltiness, or halloumi for chew. Salty cheeses may be soaked first. Parsley, mint or spring onion add freshness, and black nigella seeds are scattered in the filling or on top. Some versions are closed, while open boats show the cheese, which browns and bubbles in the oven.

Where it is used

Bakery breakfastRamadan iftarSchool snack

The cheeses in it

AkkawiThe usual Levantine filling cheese.FetaAdded for saltiness.HalloumiUsed in some households.

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Sources and further reading

About this page

Original text and drawings by the EveryCheese desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The shares are a rough, illustrative ratio, not a recipe: every family and kitchen makes it differently. If we have something wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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