Phyllo

This recipe for breiks comes from Kitty Morse, the celebrated expert on North African cuisine. She suggests serving them with lemon and harissa paste.

Chinese bean thread noodles (also called glass or cellophane noodles) are often used in Moroccan dishes, like this starter. Their use stems from the influence of a small Vietnamese community in North Africa.

These raisin-studded apple strudels have a hint of cinnamon and a zingy whipped cream topping fortified with sour cream.

It’s nothing fancy or complicated, simply a jumbo Brie wheel topped with sautéed apples and honey and wrapped in butter-brushed phyllo. But when baked, the combination of textures matched with apple and honey flavors fused with gooey Brie never fails to please a crowd.

Editor's note: The recipe below is excerpted from Cal-a-Vie Living: Gourmet Spa Cuisine and is part of a healthy and delicious spa menu developed exclusively for Epicurious by Cal-a-Vie.

Amaretti cookie crumbs, sprinkled between layers of phyllo, give lots of satisfying flavor and texture this this apple-cranberry pastry.