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Istanbul’s layered treat

One watches in hushed silence, as the chef rolls out the dough into filmy, gossamer thin layers. Then with great reverence, he brushes each layer with melted butter, and layers it into a tight stack in a pan, adding finely chopped pistachios between layers.

Istanbul’s layered treat

Labour of love: It takes years of training and skill for a pastry chef to be able to make a good baklava Photos by the writer



Kalpana Sunder

One watches in hushed silence, as the chef rolls out the dough into filmy, gossamer thin layers. Then with great reverence, he brushes each layer with melted butter, and layers it into a tight stack in a pan, adding finely chopped pistachios between layers. He, then, cuts the layers into small diamonds and puts it into the oven. After it’s baked to golden perfection, he douses it in sugar syrup, coating every piece. The dish is then left to sit, allowing the liquid to soak in giving the sweet its legendary syrupy texture. This is a baklava master class at the Ciragan Palace Kempinsky in Istanbul.

Baklava — the decadent, saccharine sweet dessert of Turkey and many other countries of the Middle East — is basically several layers (as many as 33) of paper-thin phyllo pastry, layered with nuts and finally doused in honey or sugary syrup and baked.

“You have to be a skilled pastry chef to be able to make baklava,” explains the chef. “You have to go through years of apprenticeship, and it may take a lifetime to be the perfect baklava chef. It’s finally a labour of love and patience.” It is said in olden times, cooks were asked to fit as many as 100 layers into a baking tray to prove their competence!

The origin of baklava has been disputed often, and even led to ‘baklava wars’ between countries! The history of the sweet is as multi-layered as the sweet itself. The dessert is said to have originated with the Assyrians, who used to put layers of bread with chopped nuts and honey and bake it in rustic wood ovens. The Greeks are credited with the making of the thin layers — the word phyllo is a Greek word for ‘leaf’. In Constantinople, there are accounts of baklava being made by royal cooks in the imperial kitchens of the Topkapi Palace, as far back as 1400s. In the 17th century, there used to be a baklava parade, when trays of the sweet used to be presented to the elite palace guards for Ramzan, and these were carried to the barracks of the soldiers in a special procession.

“Till the 19th century, the sweet was a luxury and common people made it only on special occasions or religious ceremonies,” explains our local guide. Over the years, every country that was part of the Ottoman Empire and its neighbours have added their own touches to the sweet — the Armenians add cinnamon and cloves, the Arabs brought in rose water and orange blossom water and the Persians the fragrance of jasmine. In Greece, the sweet, is said to be, baked in 33 layers to represent each year of Christ’s life.

While baklava is deeply rooted in Muslim traditions, this iconic sweet also features in orthodox Christian and Jewish ceremonies. Today this succulent melt-in-your-mouth sweet is sold in a zillion variations all over Istanbul. From visenli baklava, packed with sour cherries, to ceviz dolama, a round baklava made with walnuts, to vibrant green pistachio baklavas, kestaneli baklava, in which dough is wrapped around a candied chestnut, and even a chocolate version. Every bite of the sweet brings with it history, cultural influences and rich culinary heritage.

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