Baklava is a popular sweet pastry in Middle Eastern Persian, Arab, Turkish, Greek, and Albanian cuisines. It consists of ground and finely chopped walnuts or pistachios between sheets of filo pastry, soaked in a sugary solution which is made mostly of sugar and may contain either lemon juice or honey and spices with rosewater, and is either cut into small squares or rolled and cut into circular slices. As with any food, there are regional variations in the recipe with the most common ones being the syrup recipe and whether or not it contains honey.

A plate with pieces of different types of Baklava

It is widely believed that the Assyrians in the 8th century BC created baklava, and Greek merchants brought it to the Ottoman Empire, where the Turkish chefs perfected it into the form we know today. The word itself is ultimately derived from bikoul, which is Arabic for nuts.

Baklava is a complex, layered dessert made with paper thin sheets of phyllo (filo) dough that have been buttered and layered in a rectangular baking dish. Layer several sheets of phyllo (about 6 or 7) and top with a mixture of ground nuts and a little sugar and cinnamon. Walnuts or pistachios are used most often sometimes with a combination of almonds, and pecans. After layering of nut mixture is completed, top with remaining buttered phyllo, score with sharp knife and bake. When taken from the oven pour on the syrup (equal parts sugar and water boiled to a syrup consistency and then mixed with either a small amount of lemon juice or honey, cinnamon and cloves). In Greek and Turkish cuisine it is typically then cut into triangles, squares or diamonds and served. Also, in Turkish cuisine, the baklava sheet is rolled and cut into circular slices. Stays fresh a good while. Freezes well.

Because of its high sugar content, baklava is extremely rich.

External links

• [1] (http://bosanski-kuhar.8m.com/baklava.jpg)(photo; Bosnian baklava)
• [2] (http://www.vitalita.com/foodpicts/baklava.jpg)(photo; Bosnian baklava)