Baklava is a rich and sweet pastry made of layers of filo-dough filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup or honey. It carries the characteristic of the cuisines of Ottoman Empire and south Asia. Baklava has been claimed by many ethnic groups. Whoever created it I have to tell that they did good job.
In Turkey, the city, Gaziantep is very famous for its pistachio baklava and is called as “Antep Baklava”. It is generally eaten on special occasions such as Ramadan and Sacrifice Holidays, in weddings and for birthdays. When you dine out you can also find baklava but be careful what kind of syrup they use for the baklava they serve because they may use corn syrup instead of syrup made of real sugar. As I have been making baklava for a long time I can easily taste the difference in my mouth. When you make your own baklava at home you will be familiar with the taste and you will be able to differentiate the tastes when you out.
In some areas in Turkey people eat baklava with less honey or syrup and it is called and sold as "dry baklava". You can find the best dry baklava in Gaziantep but you can also make your own dry baklavas by using less syrup. Some Middle Eastern people add rose water into their syrup to add different taste and smell in it.
I, my self place one or two cinnamon sticks into syrup while boiling it that gives a nice smell, taste and cinnamon is good for our body. It is up to your choice whether you can use rose water, cinnamon or nothing other than plain syrup. I can advice you to be creative and make your own special baklava after using the basics.
I had observed both of my grandmothers while they were making baklava, real home-made baklava from scratch. It was a very hard work but they never thought that they were working hard. They seemed to me that they were enjoying themselves while making it and they never minded how long it took them to make it or not. As a kid I was surprised seeing them working so hard and I could not understand why they were working hard and the others never contributed and shared the work at home. I felt sorry for them but they were all ok with creating all the food for the family and even for the rest of the year. They had accepted that and they never complained about that. Our generation complains about anything even though we have all kinds of ready made food and easy recipes. Some of us even does not like pushing the buttons of high-tec machines. Are we getting lazy or not? Are we trying to catch up with time by working hard and buying more and more. Whatever excuses we have the fact that we do not enjoy cooking and eating as much as our ancestors did.
One of my grandmothers had a poor family and had to keep all the food in big clay containers to be used for all year along. She was so careful for using the food socarefully that it would be enough for all family members and for long time. My other granmother had enough food but she was cooking so much that she was giving most of her food to all her neighbours. I could have the chance of observing both extreme and unbalanced way of consuming food. One had the conciousness of poverty and was so concerned of not having enough for her and for her family. Neither she nor the rest of the family could enjoy their food as all of them were trying hard not to waste their food and stop eating much more than they had. My other grandmom had the consciousness of abundance but she was cooking all day long and working hard and she was giving the rest of the food all away to her neighbours. She never thought of cooking less and spending less time in her kitchen. I can now understand that she was trying to connect with other people and get the love she always missed but she could not get it from her family. I am not against sharing your food with your friends or neighbours but if you do this for being accepted or loved by others it is not real share coming from your heart, it comes from your ego to be satisfied. That's why, you can lose the balance for giving to others.
One of my grandmother made baklava layer by layer and put nuts on each layer. She cut them into squares before pouring syrup over them. My other grandmother used two long sticks, called "oklava" to make round baklavas. She was brushing one layer of dough with butter and putting the nuts in one side. Then rolling the dough inside two sticks which made the inside hollow for the syrup go inside well enough. I like the second one much better because it is crunchy even after you pour the syrup over them as you can have the control of the amount of syrup you pour better.
To make soft baklava you can pour syrup warmer but if you want more crunchy and less sweetened you have to be careful with the warmth of syrup and baklava. When you bake your baklava set it aside for being cool. The syrup should be warm but not hot. If the baklava squares or round pieces are soaked into syrup much they get soft easily. I would keep the syrup ready and use it half an hour before you serve it.
In the world of keeping so many different diets you may pass eating or making baklava but from time time you can reward yourself by tasting some and it will be ok. You need to make yourself happy in a way. I believe that you will produce more calories if you keep eating and not being able to stop yourself, covering your unhappiness with your sweet addictions or being guilty after eating any different food out of your diet list.
Enjoy the recipe you can find in my cookbook called "FROM MY HEART TO YOUR KITCHEN’'. May you have a sweet life full of joy, fun and lots of laughter!
Awesome article
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