Turkish Baklava

Turkish baklava is a sweet pastry dish that is loved all over the world. It is made up of layers of fine filo pastry which is then layered with chopped nuts such as walnuts or pistachios. To give it its sweet taste syrup or honey is added before serving making it wonderfully indulgent. It is often served cold or at room temperature but can be warmed up as well. There is no evidence that baklava existed prior to the Ottoman Empire but instead there are suggestions that it is of Central Turkish origin. The oldest known recipe for anything similar to this pastry dish is recorded in a Chinese cookbook in the 1330’s under the Mongol dynasty. To make this dish the layers of filo pastry were placed into a mixture of warm milk and sugar so although similar it is not quite the same as baklava as we know it.

Gaziantep is renowned for its Turkish baklava and it is almost felt that this is where baklava is most native. Traditionally within theMiddle East baklava will often be served with walnuts and fresh pomegranate and is seen as a dish for special occasions. Until the mid 19^th Century baklava was seen as being something that only the wealthy could afford to eat. In Greece there are still a number of sayings that relate to this theory.

The older style of baklava was originally made with a different kind of pastry that was rough and was perhaps more bread like in texture. However once Greek sea men came across this on their travels they decided to reinvent the pastry. They managed to find a way to make the pastry incredibly thin and crisp and this became known as filo pastry after the Greek word for ‘leaf’. Baklava continued to change as many different cultures added their own take on this dessert by adding a number of spices. This includes the Arabs as well as Turkish people which has led to the creation of Turkish baklava that we know and love. The French are also thought to have had some influences in the way that this dessert dish is served. It is believed that at the end of the 18th century, a past pastry chef who had worked for Marie Antoinette was exiled to the Ottoman Empire . During this time he worked for the palace and it was in fact his idea to develop the dome way of serving baklava.

Can anyone tell us how to cook Baklava? Or any different style of cooking it?