They say the sense of smell can evoke memories that your conscious is not even aware of. Take a whiff of something you haven’t smelled in years…in decades…and suddenly you are in that place, that time. Maybe you’re not even sure where it is, but it most certainly isn’t your present place and state of mind. That’s what smelling a freshly opened bottle of orange flower water does to me. Not sure where it’s taking me—the Mediterranean, a Moroccan restaurant, the Mediterranean Bakery in Alexandria—but I know it’s somewhere far away from Annapolis City Marina!

This Middle Eastern dessert is adored by all cultures in the region and can be made with kadaif (kadayif or kataifi), instead of couscous. Imagine shredding phyllo dough into threads, that’s kadaif. Since couscous is much easier to find we’re going to go with this recipe.

Jerusalem Kodafa

1 1⁄2 cups couscous
2 1⁄4 cups water
1 cup butter, cut in small pieces, plus a little more to butter the pan
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3⁄4 cups ricotta cheese
3/4 cup grated mozzarella
1 1⁄2 cups honey, total
2 -3 pinches saffron threads
1⁄2 cup water
1 teaspoon orange flower water (lemon juice may be substituted)

Place the dry couscous in a pan with a lid. Boil 2 1/4 cups of water and put over the couscous. Cover and set aside for 15-20 minutes.

While that rests, butter a 10-inch springform pan. Dice the 1 cup of butter into small cubes. Beat an egg in a separate dish. Light your oven and pre-heat to 400º.

In a separate bowl, combine the shredded mozzarella, the ricotta and 2 tablespoons of honey.

Remove lid from couscous, and fluff with a fork. Stir in butter pieces until melted. When couscous is cooled sufficiently stir in 1 beaten egg.

Now begin the layering into the pan. Spread half the couscous mixture evenly in the bottom of the cake pan. Layer in the cheese mixture and top with the second half of the couscous mixture. Gently press down.

Before I placed the pan in the oven, I wrapped it with foil. For two reasons: 1) to prevent it from burning since my galley element is hot in the back only and, 2) I didn’t trust my springform pan to not leak melted butter all over my oven. And I was very glad I did that!

Place in your pre-heated oven for 20-30 minutes. I had to bake a bit longer and rotate it a number of times. As I mentioned my flame is in the back of the oven, not like the old Force 10s. How I miss my Force 10 that was on our J42! Bake until it starts to brown along the edges. The butter will be sizzling and popping while this cooks.

While that bakes, prepare the honey sauce. Heat the remaining honey, saffron and water in a pan.

Let simmer and lightly boil for about 10 minutes until it thickens to form a light syrup. Set aside to cool a bit. Add the orange flower water. Take a nice long whiff of that delicate aroma!

Now light your broiler and let the top brown for another 3-5 minutes. Again, the butter will be sizzling! Let brown until a nice crust forms on top.

Perfectly browned top. Let cool for a moment and sprinkle with chopped pistachios.

Let rest for 15 minutes then release springform onto a plate. Slice into wedges, serve warm, drizzled with syrup, with coffee or mint tea.