Mediterranean Dessert - Baklava
Baklava is a pastry with Middle Eastern origins. It is a rich, sweet pastry featured in many cuisines of the countries that make up the former Ottoman Empire. The pastry is composed of layers of phyllo (Greek for "Leaf") dough which is filled with chopped walnuts or pistachios. The dish is then sweetened with either syrup or honey and served.
All the evidence we have on this dessert suggests that it is of Central Turkish origin. Despite claims of proto-baklava, no evidence of the dish as we know it exists prior to the Ottoman Empire. The oldest known recipe for this pastry is for a proto-baklava. The recipe was recorded in a Chinese cookbook in the 1330s under the Mongol dynasty. In this recipe, layers of phyllo dough are put one by one into a mixture of warm milk and sugar.
In the Middle East, baklava is served with walnuts and fresh pomegranate. It is a dessert reserved exclusively for special occasions. It is primarily eaten during Ramadan. Despite the claims of the Turks and other groups from the area, every ethnic group whose ancestry can be traced to the Middle East has laid a claim to their own version of the delightful pastry.
Although many feel that the dessert goes back to several thousand years B.C., it was primarily a food for the wealthy until the mid 19th century. In fact, sayings still
exist in Greek attributing it to only the upper classes.
In the early years of Baklava, the dough for the pastry was rough and had a bread-like texture. When the Greek sea men visited the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, they quickly fell in love with the pastry and brought the recipe home. Once the recipe reached Greece, it underwent a major change. This major change had to do with the dough. The Greeks' biggest contribution to baklava was in a new dough technique. This new technique made it possible to roll the dough for the pastry as thing as a leaf. This new dough was called Phyllo which is the Greek word for leaf as a result.
Over the years, a variety of cultures have contributed to the serving and spices of baklava. Some who have contributed spices include the Arabs and the Turks. While this dessert may seem completely Middle Eastern, the current way it is served is all French. At the end of the 18th century, a former pastry chef for Marie Antoinette was living in the Ottoman Empire in exile. He was employed by the palace and developed the dome way of serving and creating the dessert.