Baklava

Baklava (/bɑːkləˈvɑː, ˈbɑːkləvɑː/,[1] or /bəˈklɑːvə/;[2] Ottoman Turkish: باقلوا‎) is a layered pastry dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey. It was one of the most popular sweet pastries of Ottoman cuisine.[3]

For the Macedonian music group, see Baklava (band).

Baklava
Pistachio baklava from Gaziantep, Turkey
CourseDessert
Place of originOttoman Empire
Serving temperatureCold, room temperature or re-warmed
Main ingredientsFilo pastry, nuts, syrup
VariationsMultiple

The pre-Ottoman origin of the dish is unknown, but, in modern times, it is a common dessert of Iranian, Turkish and Arab cuisines, and other countries of the Levant and Maghreb, along with the South Caucasus, Balkans, and Central Asia.

Etymology

The word baklava is first attested in English in 1650,[4] a borrowing from Ottoman Turkish: باقلاوه‎ /bɑːklɑvɑː/.[5][6] The name baklava is used in many languages with minor phonetic and spelling variations.

Historian Paul D. Buell argues that the word "baklava" may come from the Mongolian root baγla- 'to tie, wrap up, pile up' composed with the Turkic verbal ending -v;[7] baγla- itself in Mongolian is a Turkic loanword.[8] Sevan Nişanyan considers its oldest known forms (pre-1500) to be baklağı and baklağu, and labels it as being of Proto-Turkic origin.[9] Another form of the word is also recorded in Persian, باقلبا (bāqlabā).[10] Though the suffix -vā might suggest a Persian origin,[11][12] the baqla- part does not appear to be Persian and remains of unknown origin.[13] Linguist Tuncer Gülensoy states that the origin of baklava is bakl-ı (feed) in proto-Turkish and suffixes -la-ğı are added. The word changes as bakılağı > bakılavı > baklava.[14]

The Arabic name بقلاوة baqlāwa likely originates from Turkish,[15]

History

Although the history of baklava is not well documented, its current form was probably developed in the imperial kitchens of the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul.[16] The Sultan presented trays of baklava to the Janissaries every 15th of the month of Ramadan in a ceremonial procession called the Baklava Alayı.[17][18]

The three main proposals for the pre-Ottoman roots of baklava are the Ancient Roman placenta cake, [19] the Central Asian Turkic tradition of layered desserts,[20] and the Persian lauzinaj.[17]

There are also some similarities between baklava and the Ancient Greek desserts gastris (γάστρις),[21] kopte sesamis (κοπτὴ σησαμίς), and kopton (κοπτόν) found in book XIV of the Deipnosophistae.[22][23] However, the recipe there is for a filling of nuts and honey, with a top and bottom layer of honey and ground sesame similar to modern pasteli or halva, and no dough, certainly not a flaky dough.[24]

Another recipe for a similar dessert is güllaç, a dessert found in the Turkish cuisine and considered by some as the origin of baklava.[25] It consists of layers of filo dough that are put one by one in warmed up milk with sugar. It is served with walnut and fresh pomegranate and generally eaten during Ramadan. The first known documentation of güllaç is attested in a food and health manual, written in 1330 that documents Mongol foods called Yinshan Zhengyao (飮膳正要, Important Principles of Food and Drink), written by Hu Sihui, an ethnic Mongol court dietitian of the Yuan dynasty.[7]

The placenta theory

The word placenta originally comes from the Greek language plakous, which means something "flat and broad".[26] Although there are no surviving recipes for Greek plakous, the term is known from the work of comic poet Antiphanes, quoted by Athenaeus:

"The streams of the tawny bee, mixed with the curdled river of bleating she-goats, placed upon a flat receptacle of the virgin daughter of Demeter [honey, cheese, flour], delighting in ten thousand delicate toppings – or shall I simply say plakous?" "I'm for plakous"' (Antiphanes quoted by Athenaeus 449c).[27][28]

The earliest known recipe from the 2nd century BC that resembles baklava is Ancient Roman placenta cake, a honey-covered baked layered-dough dessert which Patrick Faas identifies as the origin of baklava:

"The Greeks and the Turks still argue over which dishes were originally Greek and which Turkish. Baklava, for example, is claimed by both countries. Greek and Turkish cuisine both built upon the cookery of the Byzantine Empire, which was a continuation of the cooking of the Roman Empire. Roman cuisine had borrowed a great deal from the ancient Greeks, but placenta (and hence baklava) had a Latin, not a Greek, origin—please note that the conservative, anti-Greek Cato left us this recipe."[19][29]

Cato's original recipe for placenta follows:

Shape the placenta as follows: place a single row of tracta[30] along the whole length of the base dough. This is then covered with the mixture [cheese and honey] from the mortar. Place another row of tracta on top and go on doing so until all the cheese and honey have been used up. Finish with a layer of tracta. ... place the placenta in the oven and put a preheated lid on top of it ... When ready, honey is poured over the placenta.

— Cato the Elder, De Agri Cultura 160 BC[19]

Dalby speculates as to why Cato's section on bread and cakes, which he describes as "recipes in a Greek tradition", are included in De Agricultura: [31]

We cannot be so sure why there is a section of recipes for bread and cakes (74-87), recipes in a Greek tradition and perhaps drawing on a Greek cookbook. Possibly Cato included them so that the owner and guests might be entertained when visiting the farm; possibly so that proper offerings might be made to the gods; more likely, I believe, so that profitable sales might be made at a neighbouring market.

Several sources say this Roman dessert continued to evolve during the Byzantine age into modern baklava.[32] Historian Speros Vryonis describes koptoplakous (Byzantine Greek: κοπτοπλακοῦς), a typle of plakous, as a "Byzantine favorite" and "the same as the Turkish baklava",[33] as do other writers.[26]

Today, the Latin word placenta (Greek: πλατσέντα) has entered modern usage on the island of Lesbos for a sweet pie made with layers of thinly rolled pastry. The dough for the modern placenta is made with thin leaves of crumbly pastry dough soaked in simple syrup. Ouzo is added to the dough.[34][35]

Persian lauzinaj

Baklava is a common dessert in modern Arab cuisines, but the Arabic language cookbook Kitab al-Tabikh, compiled by Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq in the 10th Century, does not contain any recipe for baklava.[36] Its recipe for lauzinaj refers to small pieces of almond paste wrapped in very thin pastry ("as thin as grasshoppers' wings") and drenched in syrup.[37] Some writers say this is dessert that most closely resembles the modern baklava.[38] Charles Perry, however, has written that "it was not much like baklava".[39]

There are similar recipes for lauzinaj in the 13th-century Kitab al-Tabikh by Muhammad bin Hasan al-Baghdadi. Written in 1226 in today's Iraq, the cookbook was based on an earlier collection of 9th century Persian-inspired recipes.[17] According to Gil Marks, Middle Eastern pastry makers later developed the process of layering the ingredients.[17]

Central Asian layered desserts

Uzbek cuisine has pakhlava, puskal or yupka or in Tatar yoka, which are sweet and salty savories (börekler) prepared with 10–12 layers of dough.[15]

Preparation
Large baking sheets are used for preparing baklava.

Baklava is normally prepared in large pans. Many layers of filo dough,[40] separated with melted butter and vegetable oil, are laid in the pan. A layer of chopped nuts—typically walnuts or pistachios, but hazelnuts are also sometimes used—is placed on top, then more layers of filo. Most recipes have multiple layers of filo and nuts, though some have only top and bottom pastry.

Before baking (180 °C, 356 °F, 30 minutes), the dough is cut into regular pieces, often parallelograms (lozenge-shaped), triangles, diamonds or rectangles. After baking, a syrup, which may include honey, rosewater, or orange flower water is poured over the cooked baklava and allowed to soak in.

Baklava is usually served at room temperature, and is often garnished with ground nuts.

Baklava, cut in a lozenge shape

Regional variations
Greek baklava with walnuts

There are many regional variations of baklava. In Greece, walnuts are more common than pistachios, and the dessert is often flavored with cinnamon. In Iran, fragrant cardamom is added to a sweetened walnut filling. In Azerbaijani cuisine Azərbaycan Paxlavası, made with walnuts or almonds, is usually cut in a rhombus shape and is traditionally served during the spring holiday of Nowruz.[41][42][43] In Gaziantep, locally grown pistachios are used, and the dessert is often served with kaymak cream.[44]

Armenia

In Armenian cuisine, pakhlava (Armenian: Փախլավա) is spiced with cinnamon and cloves.[45] Greek-style baklava is supposed to be made with 33 dough layers, referring to the years of Christ's life.[46]

Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani pakhlava

Azerbaijani pakhlava (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan paxlavası), or simply Pakhlava (Azerbaijani: Paxlava), are a type of baklavas made in Azerbaijan[47][48] for Nowruz holiday, although not baked only for holidays. Yeasty pastry, hazelnuts or Circassian walnut, milled clove, cardamom, and saffron are used for the preparation of pakhlava. Milled nuts and sugar are used for stuffing.[49]

The diamond shape of pakhlava is commonly associated with a star or fire in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani pakhlava is multilayered and commonly prepared with walnuts or almonds and flavored with saffron. It is generally made in a big baking tray. Pakhlava has some variations in different regions of Azerbaijan based on the ingredients and baking techniques.[50][51]

A layer is rolled out from the pastry with thickness of not less than 2 mm, put into baking tray, oiled and lavishly filled with stuffing. This process is continued, until 9–10 layers are made. Another version uses 14 layers.[52] The last layer is greased with yolk, mixed up with saffron. Then pakhlava is cut into two rhombus, then either hazelnut or half of the kernel of Circassian walnut is placed on each piece. Then it is baked with 180–200 °C temperature pending 30–40 minutes.[53][54]

  • Baku pakhlava. Baku pakhlava can be made of peeled almonds or walnuts. It consists of 8–10 layers. Its top layer is coated with saffron mixed with yolk. A half walnut or pistachio is placed on the center of the top layer of each diamond-shaped piece. Syrup or honey is poured on the surface of pakhlava 15 minutes before it is ready.[55]
  • Ganja pakhlava. Ganja pakhlava is characterized by its stuffing prepared of almond, sugar and cinnamon, baking on a copper tray over a campfire and consisting of 18 layers of pastry. 8 layers of almond stuffing are spread on every 3 buttered layers of pastry. The surface is coated with egg. Syrup is added to Ganja pakhlava 15–20 minutes before it is ready.[55] Infusion of rose petals (gulab) can also be added to the dough, and cardamom is added to the stuffing.[56][57]
  • Rishta pakhlava. This kind of pakhlava differs from the other types with its top layer which is covered with rishta. Rishta is made from wheat starch or rice flour. Grid-shaped rishta made by pouring knead liquid dough on hot griddle through a special funnel with 11 holes and baking it in a minute.[55]
  • Guba pakhlava. This type of pakhlava is characterized especially by its colour. The covering layer of Guba pakhlava is coated with a mixture of saffron and a red colour additive. Guba pakhlava consists of approximately 50 rishta layers.[58][59]

Balkans
A tray of baklava in Kosovo

In Bosnian cuisine Ružice is the name of the regional variant of baklava.[60]

Iranian

In Iranian cuisine, a drier version of baklava is cooked and presented in smaller diamond-shaped cuts flavored with rose water. The cities of Yazd and Qazvin are famous for their baklava, which is widely distributed in Iran.[61] Persian baklava uses a combination of chopped almonds and pistachios spiced with cardamom and a rose water-scented syrup and is lighter than other Middle Eastern versions.[11][62]

Turkey
Gaziantep baklava

In Turkish cuisine, baklava is traditionally made by filling between the layers of dough with pistachios, walnuts or almonds (in some parts of the Aegean Region). In many parts of Turkey, baklava is often topped with kaymak or ice cream.

In the Black Sea Region hazelnuts are commonly used as a filling for baklava.[63] Hazelnuts are also used as a filling for the Turkish dessert Sütlü Nuriye, a lighter version of the dessert which substitutes milk for the simple syrup used in traditional baklava recipes.[64] Şöbiyet is a variation that includes fresh cream in the filling, in addition to the traditional nuts.[65]

The city of Gaziantep in southeast Turkey is famous for its pistachio baklava. The dessert was introduced to Gaziantep in 1871 by Çelebi Güllü, who had learned the recipe from a chef in Damascus.[66] In 2008, the Turkish patent office registered a geographical indication for Antep Baklava,[67] and in 2013, Antep Baklavası or Gaziantep Baklavası was registered as a Protected Geographical Indication by the European Commission.[68] Gaziantep baklava is the first Turkish product to receive a protected designation from the European Commission.[69]

Other

In Crimean Tatar cuisine, the pakhlava is their variant of baklava.[70] There are many variants in Maghrebi cuisine as well (from Algeria east).[71]

  • Ganja pakhlava
  • Guba pakhlava
  • Several types of Baklava
  • Armenian Pakhlava
  • Azerbaijani Baklava
  • Algerian baklava
  • A tray of baklava in the Old City, Jerusalem
  • A tray of Tunisian pastries including baklava

See also

Notes
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  2. "Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
  3. Isin, Priscilla Mary (2018). Bountiful Empire: A History of Ottoman Cuisine.
  4. Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition
  5. "Merriam-Webster Online, s.v. Baklava". M-w.com. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
  6. "Dictionary.com Unabridged, s.v. Baklava". Dictionary.reference.com. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
  7. Paul D. Buell, "Mongol Empire and Turkicization: The Evidence of Food and Foodways", p. 200ff, in Amitai-Preiss, 1999.
  8. Sukhbaatar, O. (1997). A Dictionary of Foreign Words in Mongolian (in Mongolian). Ulaanbaatar. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-25. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  9. Nişanyan, Sevan (2009) (in Turkish). Sözlerin Soyağacı - Çağdaş Türkçenin Etimolojik Sözlüğü [Words' Family Tree - An Etymological Dictionary of Contemporary Turkish]. İstanbul. http://nisanyansozluk.com/?k=baklava
  10. "Dehkhoda Persian Dictionary, باقلبا". Loghatnaameh.com. Archived from the original on 2011-10-03. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
  11. Batmanglij, Najmieh, A Taste of Persia: An Introduction to Persian Cooking, I.B.Tauris, 2007, ISBN 1-84511-437-X, 9781845114374; page 156.
  12. Marks, Gil, Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, John Wiley and Sons, 2010, ISBN 0-470-39130-8, ISBN 978-0-470-39130-3; page 38.
  13. "a derivation from balg, a common dialect form of barg "leaf", or from Ar. baql "herb" is unlikely", W. Eilers, Encyclopædia Iranica, s.v. 'bāqlavā'
  14. Gülensoy, Tuncer (2007). Türkiye Türkcesindeki Türkçe Sözcüklerin Köken Bilgisi Sözlüğü - I. Turkey: Türk Dil Kurumu. p. 106. ISBN 978-9751619709.
  15. Akın and Lambraki, Turkish and Greek Cuisine / Türk ve Yunan Mutfağı p. 248-249, ISBN 975-458-484-2
  16. Perry 1994, 87
  17. Marks, Gil (2010). Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 151. ISBN 978-0470391303.
  18. Wasti, Syed Tanvir (2005). "The Ottoman Ceremony of the Royal Purse". Middle Eastern Studies. 41 (2): 193–200. doi:10.1080/00263200500035116. S2CID 143202946.
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  20. Perry, Charles. "The Taste for Layered Bread among the Nomadic Turks and the Central Asian Origins of Baklava", in A Taste of Thyme: Culinary Cultures of the Middle East (ed. Sami Zubaida, Richard Tapper), 1994. ISBN 1-86064-603-4, page 87
  21. γάστρις, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon, on Perseus
  22. κοπτός, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon, on Perseus
  23. Deipnosophists 14:647, discussed by Charles Perry, "The Taste for Layered Bread among the Nomadic Turks and the Central Asian Origins of Baklava", in A Taste of Thyme: Culinary Cultures of the Middle East (ed. Sami Zubaida, Richard Tapper), 1994. ISBN 1-86064-603-4. p. 88.
  24. Charles Perry, "The Taste for Layered Bread among the Nomadic Turks and the Central Asian Origins of Baklava", in A Taste of Thyme: Culinary Cultures of the Middle East (ed. Sami Zubaida, Richard Tapper), 1994. ISBN 1-86064-603-4.
  25. Husihui; Paul D. Buell; Eugene N. Anderson; Charles Perry (2010). A soup for the Qan: Chinese dietary medicine of the Mongol era as seen in Hu Szu-Hui's Yin-shan cheng-yao (2nd rev. and expanded ed.). Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-18020-8.
  26. Rena Salaman, "Food in Motion the Migration of Foodstuffs and Cookery Techniques" from the Oxford Symposium on Food Cookery, Vol. 2, p. 184
  27. placenta, Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, on Perseus
  28. Dalby, Andrew (1998). Cato on farming-De Agricultura-A modern translation with commentary. p. 155.
  29. "LacusCurtius • Cato On Agriculture — Sections 74‑90". Penelope.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2017-01-28.
  30. τρακτὸς, τρακτόν "dough drawn out or rolled for pastry," Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon, on Perseus
  31. Dalby, Andrew (1998). Cato on farming-De Agricultura-A modern translation with commentary. p. 21.
  32. John Ash, A Byzantine Journey, page 223
  33. Speros Vryonis The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor, 1971, p. 482
  34. Αποστολή με Email. "Πλατσέντα, από την Αγία Παρασκευή Λέσβου | Άρθρα | Bostanistas.gr : Ιστορίες για να τρεφόμαστε διαφορετικά". Bostanistas.gr. Retrieved 2017-01-28.
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  39. Perry, Charles. "What to Order in Ninth Century Baghdad," in Rodinson, Maxime, and Arthur John Arberry. "Medieval Arab Cookery." (2001). p. 222 "As for lauzinaj, it was not much like baklava."
  40. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, p. 111, at Google Books
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  45. The flower of paradise and other Armenian tales by Bonnie C. Marshall, Virginia A. Tashjian, Libraries Unlimited, 2007, p. 179, ISBN 1-59158-367-5
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  54. "АЗЕРБАЙДЖАНСКАЯ ПАХЛАВА".
  55. Ahmedov, Ahmed-Jabir (1986). Azərbaycan kulinariyası, Азербайджанская кулинария, Azerbaijan Cookery - cookbook, in Azeri, Russian & English. Baku: Ishig.
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  57. "Gəncə paxlavası". Website of Ganja city of Azerbaijan (in Azerbaijani). Retrieved 2019-02-27.
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  60. Manning, Anneka. "Bakeproof: Bosnian baking : SBS Food". Sbs.com.au. Retrieved 2017-01-28.
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General references
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