Since we were enjoying our meal at ZAYTINYA — a new restaurant at the base of The Ritz-Carlton NOMAD, 25 West 28th Street (Manhattan), headed by celebrity chef José Andrés — friends wanted to end our experience with a dessert. When asked which was the best, our waiter steered us to the “Kaymak – Pine nut cake, sauteed apricots, apples, grapes, roasted almonds and honey” ($18 pre-tax/tip).▫️
Also known as “Geymar,” this sweet —with origins supposedly dating back thousands of years and ascribed to the Turkish town of Afyon — consists of a thickened cream usually made from water buffalo milk which, when boiled, yields a thick cream which rises to the to the top. (A substitute can be made with a mix of heavy cream (1½ cups) and milk (4½ cups)). After skimming it off, and letting it stand for an extended period, it is then chilled overnight before being detached, cut into squares, and applied to pastries or rolls or twisted into a spiraled loaf, much like a jelly roll.
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In many Middle Eastern countries, it’s served for breakfast and is combined with a flaky pastry called “Kahi,” that is smothered in date molasses or honey.
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What we got was this hardened pastry, which looked like a small tart. The pine nut base was bland and uninteresting. (It lacked the buttery texture you’d typically expect from a “cake.”) And because we were wanting more of a creamy, milky-sweet taste, and got none of that here, this item secured a “C-,” our lowest score of the evening. (Significant points were lost because no one thought this course was worth anywhere near the $22+ (post-tax/tip) we were asked to pay.)
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I guess you could say this thickened cream left us a bit sour ….
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