The Classics Series: Baklava
Baklava is essentially a filo pastry dessert layered with nuts and sweetened with a honey syrup that is poured over the top.
Baklava has been around for centuries but like all great dishes the origins are very hotly contested with Greece, Turkey, Persia (Iran), Lebanon, Bulgaria, Armenia (in fact most of the Eastern Mediterranean, Balkans, Middle East and Caucasus region!) all laying claim to this gorgeous sweet treat.
Reference was made in a Persian cookbook in the 9th century to an almond and filo dessert doused in a honey syrup which sounds very much like baklava. There are also many similarities between the baklava we know and love and an ancient Greek version around many centuries before. The pastry we would most recognise as baklava however likely dates back to the Ottoman Empire when the baklava pastry became thinner, the nuts and flavours more elaborate and the overall pastry a thing of beauty.
Back in the Ottoman era baklava was so well thought of that it would have been consumed in large quantities in the palace and took prize of place on tables for weddings, banquets and festivals. Also all guests of the palace would have been given this sweet treat. Suleiman the Magnificent, a 16th Century sultan who ruled the Ottoman Empire, had a Baklava Regiment whose job was solely to distribute baklava to the soldiers. Historical records showing that on the 15th day of Ramadan, a tray of baklava was sent to every 10 soldiers as a way of thanking them. It is said that the streets of Istanbul would be lined by people watching the baklava procession. During this time baklava was seen to be considered a sign of wealth and taste.
With such hotly contested debates about where baklava originated, the Ottoman link is not welcomed by everybody as this firmly makes it Turkish.
Before starting my baklava research I had assumed that baklava was Turkish so finding out the different fillings and syrups has been really interesting, Greek baklava has spices, Turkish baklava lemon and pistachio, some regions have mixed nuts and on it went with so many different takes the only way for me to find out what was best was to get busy and get cooking as many different ones that I could.
After cooking and tasting just pistachio, mixed nuts, almonds, walnuts then with spices, without, with lemon and without. The lemon cut through some of the sweetness and stopped it tasting super sickly sweet. The spices however did give it that super something special but it was very, very sweet and I understood what people meant when they said baklava was too sweet for them. I love pistachios but different nuts gave different textures and that really made the difference. I also tested with only 1 layer of nuts and 2 layers.
So after all of the testing I will need to apologise to all of the above regions and purists because my favourite baklava is a mixture of the versions tested. I liked 2 layers of nuts, ¾ of them pistachios and the final ¼ being a mixture of walnuts, cashews and almonds and the syrup having both lemon and spices. I also put a little cinnamon in the butter to get some of the spice throughout the layers. I also took a little tip from Claudia Roden and after putting the syrup over the top I put it back into the oven for 5 mins and the top went so crispy it was lovely.
“So try my ultimate mixed bag baklava, I love it, it is the perfect combination.”