Sweet, chewy and tender, baklava is a popular Middle Eastern dessert at social gatherings, celebrations and Iftar during Ramadan.
Baklava is delicately made and stuffed with nuts such as roasted almonds, walnuts and pistachios, sometimes topped with pistachios and sweetened with syrup. Many countries, such as Greece, Turkey and Syria, claim desserts as their own.
However, the history of baklava dates back to the Assyrian 8th century BC. The Assyrians used a layer of unleavened bread, spread the chopped nuts in between, soaked it in honey, and then baked the final product in a primitive wood-burning oven.
Today’s baklava, or as the people of the Middle East say, has undergone many transitions in the production process.
Baklava is a national dessert in all lands that were once under the control of the Ottoman Empire, including the Middle East, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Balkans, and the Caucasus.
The sweet pastry may have been completed during the Ottoman reign from the 15th century to the beginning of the 20th century, as the oldest record of baklava is in the kitchen notes of the Topkapu Palace, where the first Ottoman sultan is located. The highest. Lived and worked.
Baklava was considered a luxury dessert in Turkey in the 19th century and was only available to the rich. There is a saying that Turkish people use to this day when explaining their financial condition: “I’m not rich enough to eat baklava every day.”
To make baklava, you need 400g of phyllo pastry, 200g of butter and 200g of chopped pistachios. For syrup, prepare 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water, 2⁄3 cups of honey, 1/2 teaspoon of orange blossom or rose water, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
Starting with syrup, add all the ingredients to one pan, stir until the sugar melts and becomes a little thicker, then set it aside and let it cool.
Place one philopestry on a clean surface, polish with butter, add another layer, butter again, sprinkle chopped pistachios evenly, place two skewers horizontally on both ends and the edges of the sheet, Roll firmly and then crush. Place the roll in the middle, place it in a buttered tray, and pull the skewers out of the roll.
Repeat this process, lining the rolls side by side on a tray, buttering and then baking in an oven preheated to 160 ° C for up to 1.5 hours. Pour the syrup into the baklava as soon as it is out of the oven.
Set aside until room temperature, cut into squares and place on a plate.
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