Baklava

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

Not to be confused with Balaclava.

Baklava

Baklava is prepared on large trays and cut into a variety of shapes
Origin
Place of origin	Turkic peoples
Region or state	countries of the former Ottoman Empire and Central Asia
Dish details
Course served	Dessert
Serving temperature	Cold, room temperature or re-warmed
Main ingredient(s)	Phyllo dough, nuts, sweetening
Variations	Multiple

Baklava (Ottoman Turkish باقلوا, pronounced /ˈbɑːkləvɑː/ or /bɑːkləˈvɑː/^[1]) is a rich, sweet pastry made of layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup or honey. It is characteristic of the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and much of central and southwest Asia^{[citation needed]}.

History

The history of baklava is not well documented. It has been claimed by many ethnic groups, but there is strong evidence that it is of Central Asian Turkic origin, with its current form being developed in the imperial kitchens of the Topkapı Palace.^[2]

Many Ottoman sweets are similar to Byzantine sweets, using dough, sesame, wheat, nuts and fruits, and some were similar to the Ottoman börek, halva, and so on. Indeed, Vryonis identifies the ancient Greek gastris (γάστρις^[3]), kopte (κοπτὴ σησαμίς), kopton (κοπτόν), or koptoplakous (κοπτοπλακοῦς),^[4] mentioned in the Deipnosophistae, as baklava, and calls it a "Byzantine favorite".^[5] But though gastris contained a filling of nuts and honey, its outer layers did not include any dough, but rather a honey and ground sesame mixture similar to modern pasteli or halva.^[6]

Perry assembles evidence to show that layered breads were created by Turkic peoples in Central Asia, and argues that the "missing link" between the Central Asian folded or layered breads (which did not include nuts) and modern phyllo-based pastries like baklava is the Azerbaijani dish Bakı pakhlavası, which involves layers of dough and nuts. The traditional Uzbek pakhlava, puskal or yupka and Tatar yoka, sweet and salty savories (boreks) prepared with 10-12 layers of dough, are other early examples of layered dough style in Turkic regions.^[7]

The thin phyllo dough as used today was probably developed in the kitchens of the Topkapı Palace. Indeed, the sultan presented trays of baklava to the Janissaries every 15th of the month of Ramadan in a ceremonial procession called the Baklava Alayı.^[8] Zibart claims that the Persians added the syrup and nuts.^[9]

Other claims about baklava's origins include: that it dates back to ancient Mesopotamia, and was mentioned in a Mesopotamian cookbook on walnut dishes; that al-Baghdadi describes it in his 13th-century cookbook; that it was a popular Byzantine dessert.^[10] But Claudia Roden^[11] and Andrew Dalby^[12] find no evidence for it in Arab, Greek, or Byzantine sources before the Ottoman period.

One of the oldest known recipes for a sort of proto-baklava is found in a Chinese cookbook written in 1330 under the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty under the name güllach.^[13] "Güllaç" is found in Turkish cuisine. Layers of phyllo dough are put one by one in warmed up milk with sugar. It is served with walnut and fresh pomegranate and generally eaten during Ramadan.

A typical baklava

Baklava with whipped cream and pistachios

Local versions

In Turkey, Gaziantep is famous for its pistachio baklava and regarded there as its native city,^[14] though it only appears to have been introduced to Gaziantep from Damascus in 1871.^[15] In 2008, the Turkish patent office registered a geographical indication certificate for Antep Baklava.^[16]

Baklava from Aleppo is made with the local pistachios and samna from Hama.^{[citation needed]}

In the Balkans, it is generally only eaten on special occasions; by Muslims, mostly during the holy month of Ramadan and Eid ul-Fitr. In Albania, baklava is very popular dessert. The dough may include egg yolks,^{[dubious – discuss]} and the filling uses walnuts.^{[citation needed]}

In Iran, a drier version of baklava is cooked and presented in smaller diamond-shaped cuts flavored with rose water. The city of Yazd is famous for its baklava, which is widely distributed in Iran.^[17] 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.^[18][19]

In Azerbaijan, pakhlava is mostly prepared during the Novruz festivity. After preparation the pakhlava is cut into diamond shapes and each piece is garnished with an almond or a walnut.

In Afghanistan and Cyprus, baklava is prepared into triangle-shaped pieces and is lightly covered in crushed pistachio nuts.

In Armenia, baklava is made with cinnamon and cloves.^[20]

In Syria, baklava is prepared from phyllo dough sheets, butter, walnuts and sugar syrup. It is cut into lozenge pieces.^[21]

Etymology

The word baklava is first attested in English in 1653^[22], a borrowing from Ottoman Turkish باقلوا /bɑːklɑvɑː/.^[23][24] The name baklava is used in many languages with minor phonetic and spelling variations.

The ultimate origin of the name is unclear.

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;^[13] baγla- itself in Mongolian is a Turkic loanword.^[25] The Armenian linguist Sevan Nişanyan traces the word to its Proto-Turkic forms of baklağı or baklağu, but offers no conjecture of how those words came to be associated with this dish.^[26]

Though the suffix -vā might suggest a Persian origin,^[18][27] the baqla- part does not appear be Persian.^[28] Another form of the word is also recorded in Persian, باقلبا (bāqlabā).^[29] The Arabic name is doubtless a borrowing from Turkish,^[7] though a folk etymology, unsupported by Wehr's dictionary, connects it to Arabic بقلة /baqlah/ 'bean'.

Pictures of baklava

• 

  Baklava from Aleppo, Syria

• 

  Pakhlava from Ganja, Azerbaijan

• 

  Pakhlava from Quba, Azerbaijan

• 

  Baklava in Jerusalem, Israel

Notes

1. ^ Merriam-Webster
2. ^ Perry 1994, 87
3. ^ γάστρις, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
4. ^ κοπτός, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
5. ^ Speros Vryonis The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor, 1971, p. 482
6. ^ 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.
7. ^ ^{a b} Akın and Lambraki, Turkish and Greek Cuisine/Türk ve Yunan Mutfağı p. 248-249, ISBN 9754584842
8. ^ Syed Tanvir Wasti, "The Ottoman Ceremony of the Royal Purse", Middle Eastern Studies 41:2:193–200 (March 2005)
9. ^ Zibart, Eve, The Ethnic Food Lover's Companion, Menasha Ridge Press, 2001, ISBN 0897323726, 9780897323727; page 174.
10. ^ John Ash, A Byzantine Journey, page 223
11. ^ New Book of Middle Eastern Food, 2000, ISBN 0-375-40506-2
12. ^ Siren Feasts: A History of Food and Gastronomy in Greece, 1997, ISBN 0-415-15657-2
13. ^ ^{a b} Paul D. Buell, "Mongol Empire and Turkicization: The Evidence of Food and Foodways", p. 200ff, in Amitai-Preiss, 1999.
14. ^ Guide Martin: Gaziantep
15. ^ Esther Brunner, "A sweet journey: Güllüoğlu baklava" Turkish Daily News, June 14, 2008.full text
16. ^ Bsanna News, February 21, 2008
17. ^ N. Ramazani, "BĀQLAVĀ", Encyclopaedia iranica, Volume 3, Issues 5-8, page 729.
18. ^ ^{a b} Batmanglij, Najmieh, A Taste of Persia: An Introduction to Persian Cooking, I.B.Tauris, 2007, ISBN 184511437X, 9781845114374; page 156.
19. ^ Food and Booze: A Tin House Literary Feast, Michelle Wildgen, Nicole J. Georges, Tin House Books, 2007, ISBN 0977312771, 9780977312771; page 200.
20. ^ The flower of paradise and other Armenian tales by Bonnie C. Marshall, Virginia A. Tashjian, Libraries Unlimited, 2007, p. 179, ISBN 1591583675
21. ^ Baklava recipe on Shahiya
22. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition
23. ^ Merriam-Webster Online, s.v. Baklava
24. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged, s.v. Baklava
25. ^ Sukhbaatar, O. (1997) (in Mongolian) (PDF). A Dictionary of Foreign Words in Mongolian. Ulaanbaatar. p. 25. http://altaica.narod.ru/LIBRARY/e_sukheb.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-08. 
26. ^ 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. Retrieved 2011-17-03. 
27. ^ Marks, Gil, Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, John Wiley and Sons, 2010, ISBN 0470391308, 9780470391303; page 38.
28. ^ "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'
29. ^ Dehkhoda Persian Dictionary, باقلبا

References

• Reuven Amitai-Preiss and David O. Morgan, eds., The Mongol Empire and Its Legacy Brill, 1999. ISBN 90-04-11946-9.
• Paul D. Buell, "Mongol Empire and Turkicization: The Evidence of Food and Foodways", p. 200ff, in Amitai-Preiss, 1999.
• Christian, David. Review of Amitai-Preiss, 1999, in Journal of World History 12:2:476 (2001).
• 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.
• Roden Claudia, "A New Book of Middle Eastern Food" ISBN 01-404658-8
• Vryonis, Speros, The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor, 1971. Quoted in Perry (1994).
• Wasti, Syed Tanvir, "The Ottoman Ceremony of the Royal Purse", Middle Eastern Studies 41:2:193–200 (March 2005)

External links