Baklava

Baklava, baklava, baklava..... is the Queen of desserts. For me. I would swap everything for one piece of it. 

Baklava is the main dessert in many cuisines in the Mediterranean, Middle East regions and very popular in Arabic countries.

Traditionally it is made with walnuts but there is also varieties with almonds, pistachios, cashews or pine nuts. Baklava comes also in a variety of shapes and sizes. The traditional diamond shape is popular among most everyone who makes it. Other types:

• Boukage Baklava (filo pastry, honey, pistachio nuts, vegetable ghee)
• Katayef Roll Baklava (crispy, shreded filo pastry in a shape of small rolls filled with nuts and syrup. It is sticky and tasty.)
• Walnuts Baklava (filled with walnuts and syrup)
• Diamond Baklava (filled with different nuts like, wulnuts, almonds, cashew nuts and pistachio and honey, rich and delicious)
• Assabee Round Baklava (filo pastry filled with pistachio, and almonds sugar syrups in a shape of finger. It is a fantastic sweet to serve in any kind of occasions)

Baklava store in Istanbul, at Istiklal Caddesi

 The history of baklava

The most famous among Turkey's delicious sweet confections is baklava. This excellent flavoured pastry was made in Anatolia (also called Asia Minor) for long centuries. Its ancestor may be a dish made by the Assyrians (8th century B.C.) consisting of dried fruit sandwiched between two layers of pastry and baked in the oven.

As we know today the oldest record of baklava locates in Damascus, from which city it spread to Gazientep (city in southeast Turkey and amongst the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world) and from there to the rest of Turkey. By the 17th century the fame of baklava had spread to Constantinople since towards the end of the 17th century baklava was made by the Topkapi Palace's cooks as a special treat for the janiessaries in Ramazan. 

During the reign of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent (1520-1566), the soldiers were given a large meal of pilaf, lamb stew and saffron flavoured rice pudding (zerde) before setting out the campaign, and in time, this tradition was replaced by the distribution of baklava during Ramazan. The janissaries carried the trays of baklava out of the palace in what was known as the Baklava Procession, Baklava Alayı.

The famous Istanbul Encyclopedia gives the below description of Baklava Alayı: 

"In the middle of Ramazan the sultan, in his capacity as caliph, would pay a ceremonial visit to the Mantle of the Prophet and the other holy relics, which was followed by the Mantle of the Prophet Procession. Following this ceremony trays of baklava prepared in the palace kitchens, one for every ten janissaries, cavalry soldiers, artillery men and armourers, each wrapped in a cloth, were laid ready outside the imperial kitchens. The fit tray was taken by the master armourer and his officers in the name of the sultan, who was himself first janissary. After that the others would be picked up in turn by pairs of soldiers, and each unit with their officers would line up for the parade, followed at the back by the soldiers holding the trays of baklava. They would march out of the palace gate and down the main road known as Divanyolu to their barracks with great pomp and clamour, watched by huge crowds. The following day the empty trays and cloths would be returned to the palace."

In later years this procession turned into a noisy and disorganised occasion and the trays and clothes were no longer returned, with excuses like "the baklava was so tasty we ate the trays and clothes as well". Despite of its end, the procession was of one of the most interesting customs of Istanbul past. 

In the first printed Turkish cookery book, Melceü't-Tabbahin (Refuge of Cooks), its author Mehmet Kâmil gives five recipes for baklava: ordinary baklava, baklava with clotted cream, decorative baklava with clotted cream, baklava with melon, and rice baklava.

Baklava has spread so far and wide that today it is to be found and eaten with relish in approximately one-fifth of the world's countries. It is surprising, for example, to find that baklava is popular in Texas, where it was introduced in the 19th century by Czech migrants. Less surprising is its prevalence throughout the Arabian peninsula, North Africa, the Turkic republics of Central Asia, Greece, Albania, Macedonia, India, Afghanistan and Armenia. However, there is an important difference between the baklava made in all these countries and that of Turkey - the thickness of the pastry layers.

Today's baklava

Today baklava is still a specialty and sold at stores that specializes only on baklava. In these baklava stores (called baklavacı in Turkish) one can find different versions of layered thin pastry desserts with different ingredients and different cuts. 

Turkish baklava is made by very thin layers of pastry made from wheat starch and a sugary syrup that does not contain honey or spices.

The tasted baklava during our Turkey trip last year

I could not take pictures about all baklava we tasted, we ate them always immediately when they were served :)

In Istanbul you have to turn into Sütiş Muhallebicisi (İstiklal Cad. No:7 Beyoğlu, since 1922).

In Kaş we tasted M's favorite pistachio baklava with ice cream on the top of it. It was heaven.

Pistachio baklava with ice cream in Kaş, Türkiye

My baklava

Well made baklava should melt in the mouth, and should not be excessively sweet or syrupy. That's what I also tried to carry out last time in Stockholm for M. 

I used the traditional baklava recipe by one of my favorite Turkish blog's, Almost Turkish. 

Ingredients:

1 box of phyllo pastry (at least 20 sheets)
2 1/3 sticks of butter
3 cups of chopped walnut (not minced or coarse)

For the syrup:
3 cups of sugar
3 cups of water
2-3 tablespoon lemon juice

 

While you thaw the phyllo dough, grease the baklava tray. The tray can be slightly smaller than phyllo sheets. I used a smaller rectangular glass oven dish.
 

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Place a layer of phyllo sheet at the bottom of the dish and drizzle 1 tbsp butter on top. Spread the half of the phyllo sheets on the dish, buttering them one by one. Sprinkle the ground walnuts on top of the middle layer. Cover the walnuts with the other half of phyllo sheets, again buttering every single one. When the sheets are finished, with the help of a knife push the edges inwards onto the tray.

Now cut the baklava. It always has to be cut before it is baked. The most traditional cut is the diamond cut. But you can go for triangles or simple squares, as you wish. For diamond cut, first find the sharpest knife in your kitchen and cut baklava into 4 or 5 equal pieces lengthwise. Then cut it diagonally at 3 cm intervals.

Drizzle the remaining butter on top and bake it in a preheated oven at 180°C until golden brown.

For the syrup, mix sugar and water and cook stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. First bring to a boil then let it simmer on low for about 20-25 minutes. Add lemon juice 10 minutes before you take it off the stove.Turn it off, and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. 

I started to make the syrup only when I took baklava out from the oven because it has to be cold when we pour the syrup. You need to be careful because the syrup should neither be boiling hot nor cold. It will be at a good temperature to pour after 10-15 minutes off the stove.

In the end pour the syrup on top and let it soak. Wait at least 1-2 hours to cool and absorb the syrup.