Baklava - A Story With A Scent Of Baked Crusts And Cinnamon

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

Thin toasted crusts, filling, the smell of melted butter and overflowing sweetness - for many peoples baklava is the real king of desserts.

This tempting cake dominates the festive tables in Bulgaria and in the other Balkan countries. And also in those in the Middle East, as well as among Georgians, Armenians and Cypriots. Although baklava to be known throughout the world, its origin remains unknown.

According to some studies, it originates from either Central Asia or Syria. By the Byzantine era, her recipe was already so widespread that it even began to be traded.

Some studies believe that the swing of baklava is Gazientep, a city in the region of the same name, located southeast of Anatolia, northwest of Mesopotamia and not far from Syria. By the way, the name "baklava" has Mongolian roots according to the British dictionary Oxford. The Mughal Empire was a Muslim state that lasted from 1526 to 1858 and united today's territories of India. According to Oxford, the etymology of the word "baklava" reinforces the assumption of the Turkish origin of the cake.

In the Ottomans the first written traces of the existence of baklava date from 1473, ie lead to the conqueror of Istanbul Mehmed II. It is believed that they prepared the first baklava in the kitchen of Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. It is believed that the cake is the inheritor of many-leaf breads made in these lands until then.

Each country has its own history and its own variations of its preparation.

In Romania, for example, baklava entered in the 18th century, at the same time as nougat and Turkish delight through the Phanariots (aristocrats professing the Orthodox Christian faith). And today the baklava is being prepared for the New Year.

The New Year's baklava is also reserved for the festive table in Bulgaria. Although the candied cake can be tried in different forms in almost every confectionery in our country, the tradition of making it at home is not dying. And with it remains the irreplaceable pleasure of the house filled with the aroma of toast and the smell of cinnamon.

In Turkey, because of the thousands of hazelnut trees, baklava is widely made with hazelnuts. In Tunisia, dessert is often filled with a mixture of nuts - walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews… In Algeria, you may come across a baklava with an almond in the middle. Delicious baklava is also available in Greece. And there, as in most places, once baked, it is watered with milk or sugar syrup.

For many species baklava there is also a legend that says that the confectioners in the palace kitchen of the Turkish sultan had to prepare a new kind of delicious dessert every day, which was so much enjoyed by their master. Therefore, they invented various forms of baklava and garnished them with all kinds of fillings in order to satisfy the claims of the padisha.

If after such delicious stories you already see baklava, don't think about it. Two packets of fine pastry crusts, a quarter kilogram of butter, a few crushed walnuts, cinnamon, sugar, lemon and water are enough. Ask the grandmothers about the rest.