By FLORENCE FABRICANT
Published: October 25, 2011
Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
Steve Blanco, a jazz pianist whose mother is from Casablanca, Morocco, grew up eating crumbly, shortbread-stylecookies that are called ghoribas in North Africa. About a year ago he and his girlfriend and partner, Heidi Karlsen, who has baked professionally, decided to try making them with notable tweaks, like replacing semolina with rye flour and butter or cooking oil with coconut oil. They call them Sandcastles. So far they have perfected two rich, nutty flavors: marzipan and black sesame. Next in line are maple-dusted cardamom and poppy-seed-lemon.
Black and Blanco cookies are $5.99 for a five-ounce package from blackblanco.com, and at E & I Market, and $5.49 at Food Cellar, both in Long Island City, Queens; and $5 at Smorgasburg in Brooklyn.
