There are few things that unite the fractious former lands of the Ottoman empire, divided by race, language and religion; but there is always Baklava.

Scott Newman on the history of baklava

 

There are few things that unite the fractious former lands of the Ottoman empire, divided by race, language and religion; but there is always Baklava.  From the Danube to the Nile, you will find the locals tucking into those ohh-so-sweet layers of pastry and firmly tell you that it is ‘their dish’.  In a generous mood a Turk might admit that Mousaka is Greek, but they would surely go to war over Baklava.

Where both the sweet and its name come from are shrouded in mystery, the Greeks say its theirs, so do the Lebanese, the Turks will even say they brought it with them from Central Asia.  Ask one scholar and the word Baklava comes from the Mongolian, “baãla-”  'to tie, wrap up, pile up' another will tell you that “bakla”, meaning “to layer” is from the Ugratic language of Ancient Syria.  Rival teams of linguists have scoured ancient literature to prove their nation’s ownership of this humble dessert, but none of the results are convincing.  The most popular theory is that it was originally developed by the Ancient Assyrians, 2800 years ago, from where it spread over the Eastern Mediterranean, where others, like the Greeks and Lebanese developed it.  It was the favoured dessert of the Ottoman Sultans, and probably reached the form we know today in the kitchens of the Topkapı palace.  The familiar lozenge shape was given by Marie Antoinette’s pastry chef, a certain Monsieur Guillaume, who ended up in the Topkapı kitchens after the revolution. The heart of the Baklava is the Filo pastry, which comes from the Greek “Filo” meaning leaf, and the Pistachio nuts.  In Turkey, the home of the Pistachio is the southern borderlands with Syria, around Urfa and Anteb, which are also Turkey’s Baklava heartland – with shops labelled Urfa and Anteb Baklavacısı to be found from the snows of Ararat to the sands of the Aegean.  This fits with the theory of an Assyria origin, so this part of the fertile crescent may not merely have given us western agriculture, but even Baklava itself.

 

One day The Hodja and his friends were sitting at the coffee house. A young boy carrying a tray of baklava attracted the attention of one of the men.

“Hodja Effendi, look!” he pointed, “That boy is carrying a tray of baklava.”

“Its none of my business.” Hodja shrugged his shoulders.

“But, Hodja, watch! He is taking it to your house.”

 “In that case”, Hodja asserted, “its none of your business.”

 

 

Making

your own

 

It’s surprisingly easy, though cracking open all the Pistachio nuts can be time consuming.

 

What you need:

• 500 grams of filo (phyllo) pastry

• 300 grams of (unsalted) butter

• 2 cups of pistachio nuts

• 500 grams of sugar

• 1/2 litre of water

• Lemon Juice – say half a lemon

• Plus an oven, a large baking tray and a pastry brush.

First you melt the butter and grease the tray with butter and put in the first piece of Filo pastry.  If you are lucky then the shape of your filo and baking tray match perfect but usually you need to mix and match to create a whole layer. Then, you paint the top of this layer with butter, and keep repeating till you have used about half your Filo. Next crush your Pistachio nuts into fine grains, and spread this evenly across the tray. Finally, keep going with the pastry and the butter above the Filo. Now get a really sharp knife and cut through two sets of parallel cuts, one in the line of the tray, either way, and one at an angle to get the ‘lozenge’ shape. Cook the pastry at about 180 C0 (350 F0) until it’s a soft brownish color.

Now it’s time for the Syrup. Boil the water with the Sugar and lemon juice for about 15 minutes until the sugar dissolves and thickens.

Finally when the pastry is cooked, pour the syrup across the pastry, and it will run down the cracks, and between the layer.  Leave it in the fridge for a while to cool and then there it is; you have Baklava.

Additions and Variations

Nuts: You can use a mix of Almonds and Walnuts with your Pistachios.

Honey:  Use less sugar in the syrup and add honey instead

Spice:  Cinnamon adds extra flavour, mix it either with the nuts or into the syrup.  Some also use Cloves.

Aroma:  Orange blossom essence in the syrup adds to the smell.

Sugarless:  Some who find Baklava a little too sweet use little or no syrup – best with a lot of butter

Side dishes:  In Erzurum I was once served Baklava with ice-cream, great for balancing out the extreme sweetness.