Sweet cheese

Underneath the Ethiopian church inside the ancient walls of the old city, in a rundown gloomy room, behind an unmarked iron door at the bottom of a stairway, is Zalatimo, a pastry shop like no other. People come here from all parts of town to indulge in one rare delicacy — a crisp-edged baked pastry known as mutabbaq, prepared by the Zalatimo family shops in Jerusalem and Amman. The opening hours are unpredictable and inside the ancient arched ceiling, Roman pillars and medieval flooring contrast sharply with exposed fluorescent tubes and simple Formica furniture.