Sfiha

Sfiha is small rounds of dough topped with spiced minced lamb, tomato and pomegranate molasses and baked open-faced. It's Lebanon's bakery-counter answer to a meat pie — smaller and thinner than a Turkish lahmacun, and finished with a distinct sour-sweet edge that comes from the molasses rather than a squeeze of lemon at the table.

What it actually is

Small rounds of yeasted dough are stretched thin and topped generously with a mix of minced lamb, diced tomato, onion and warm spices, worked together with a tart pour of pomegranate molasses and often a scattering of pine nuts across the top. They're baked open-faced, without folding, until the dough crisps at the edge and the meat topping cooks through in the same short bake.

The pomegranate molasses does most of the work that lemon does on a Turkish lahmacun — it's baked into the topping rather than squeezed on afterward, so the sourness is part of the dough's flavour from the first bite rather than an addition at the table.

How it's served

• Straight from the oven, warm, eaten by hand, no cutlery.
• In multiples, since each piece is small — several per order is standard.
• From a bakery counter, as often as from a restaurant kitchen.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag the gluten in the dough; it's the base of the whole dish.
• Say how many pieces make up a portion, since each sfiha is small and the count matters for pricing.
• Distinguish it from lahmacun if both appear on a menu; sfiha is smaller, thicker in the dough and finished with pomegranate molasses rather than a table squeeze of lemon.
• Note if a beef version is available alongside the traditional lamb topping.