Palestinian confectioner seeks Guinness record

NABLUS, July 18 -- A Palestinian pastry

baker on Saturday produced the largest salver of Arab sweets in the West Bank

city of Nablus, hoping to find his way into Guinness Book of World Records.

The baking of the Kunafa took six hours and Prime

Minister Salam Fayyad opened it before public who gathered in the city.

The confectioner Muhanned al-Rabbe said the dish was

74 meters long and 1.05 meters wide and weighed 1,756 kg.

The giant dish consumed 700 kilograms

of semolina pastry, 50 kg of sugar, six cans of butter, 40 kg of nuts and 22

cooking gas cylinders.

The direct and indirect expenses for producing the

Kunafa dish were nearly 4,000 U.S. dollars, most of them donated by local

businessmen and owners of sweet shops, according to al-Rabbe.

The opening ceremony took place on the third day of

Nablus' shopping festival and 500 Palestinian policemen were present to maintain

order.

Nablus is one of the oldest cities in the region with

a population of 135,000 people. It is famous for its Arab sweets, especially the

Kunafa, and soap.