Baklava - Revision history

Irlandos at 08:56, October 28, 2007

2007-10-28T08:56:55Z

Irlandos at 08:56, October 28, 2007

2007-10-28T08:56:13Z

Irlandos: New page: '''Baklava''' is a rich, sweet pastry featured in many cuisines of the former Ottoman countries. It is a pastry made of layers of phyllo dough filled with chopped walnuts or pistachios...

2007-10-28T08:55:49Z

New page: '''Baklava''' is a rich, sweet pastry featured in many cuisines of the former Ottoman countries. It is a pastry made of layers of phyllo dough filled with chopped walnuts or pistachios...

New page

'''Baklava''' is a rich, sweet pastry featured in many cuisines of the former Ottoman countries. It is a pastry made of layers of [[phyllo]] dough filled with chopped walnuts or pistachios and sweetened with syrup or honey.

Gaziantep, a city in Turkey, is famous for its baklava and, in Turkey, is widely regarded as the native city of the dessert.<ref>[http://www.guide-martine.com/southeastern4.asp Guide Martin: Gaziantep]</ref> {{cuisine}}

== History ==
The history of baklava is not well-documented; but although it has been claimed by many ethnic groups, the best evidence is that it is of Central Asian Turkic origin, with its current form being developed in the imperial kitchens of the Topkapı Palace.<ref>Perry 1994, 87</ref>

Vryonis (1971) identified the ancient [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] ''gastris'', ''kopte'', ''kopton'', or ''koptoplakous'', mentioned in the [[Deipnosophistae]], as baklava, and calls it a "[[Byzantine]] favorite". However, Perry (1994) shows that though ''gastris'' contained a filling of nuts and honey, it did not include any dough; instead, it involved a honey and ground sesame mixture similar to modern ''[[pasteli]]'' or ''[[halva]]''.

Perry then assembles evidence to show that layered breads were created by Turks in Central Asia and argues that the "missing link" between the Central Asian folded or layered breads (which did not include nuts) and modern phyllo-based pastries like ''baklava'' is the Azerbaijani dish ''Bakı pakhlavası'', which involves layers of dough and nuts, but not as thin phyllo dough as used today, which probably was developed in the kitchens of the Topkapı Palace. Indeed, the sultan presented trays of baklava to the Janissaries every 15th of Ramadan in a ceremonial procession called the ''Baklava Alayı''.<ref>Wasti, 2005</ref>

Other claims about its origins include: that it is of Assyrian<ref>http://www.kitchenproject.com/history/Baklava.htm</ref> origin, dates back to ancient Mesopotamia, and was mentioned in a Mesopotamian cookbook on walnut dishes; that al-Baghdadi describes it in his 13th-century cookbook as a popular Byzantine dish. But Claudia Roden<ref>''New Book of Middle Eastern Food'', 2000, ISBN 0-375-40506-2</ref> and Andrew Dalby<ref>''Siren Feasts: A History of Food and Gastronomy in Greece'', 1997, ISBN 0-415-15657-2</ref> find no evidence for it in [[Arab]], [[Greece|Greek]], or [[Byzantine]] sources before the Ottoman period. Additionally, In Akın and Lambraki <ref> ''Turkish and Greek Cuisine/Türk ve Yunan Mutfağı'' p. 248-249, ISBN 9754584842</ref>, ancient Uzbek ''puskal'' or ''yupka'' and Tatar ''yoka'', sweet and salty savories (boreks) prepared with 10-12 layers of dough, are mentioned as early examples of layered dough style in Turkic regions.

One of the oldest known recipes for a sort of proto-baklava is found in a Chinese cookbook written in 1330 under the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty under the name ''güllach'' (Buell, 1999). "Güllaç" is found in Turkish cuisine. Layers of phyllo dough are put one by one in warmed up milk with sugar. It is served with walnut and fresh pomegranate and generally eaten during Ramadan.

== Etymology ==
The word baklava entered English from Turkish;<ref>[http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/baklava Merriam-Webster Online, ''s.v.'' Baklava]</ref> it is sometimes connected with the Arabic word for "bean" (بقلة /baqlah/), but Wehr's dictionary lists them as unrelated. Akın and Lambraki <ref> ''Turkish and Greek Cuisine/Türk ve Yunan Mutfağı'' p. 248-249, ISBN 9754584842</ref> state that the word ''baklava'' entered into Arabic from Turkish. Buell (1999) argues that the word "baklava" may come from the Mongolian root ''baγla-'' 'to tie, wrap up, pile up' composed with the Turkic verbal ending ''-v''. Baklava is found in many cuisines, with minor phonetic variations on the name.

== References ==
* Reuven Amitai-Preiss and David O. Morgan, eds., ''The Mongol Empire and Its Legacy'' Brill, 1999. ISBN 90-04-11946-9.
* Paul D. Buell, "Mongol Empire and Turkicization: The Evidence of Food and Foodways", p. 200''ff'', in Amitai-Preiss, ''op.cit.''
* Christian, David. Review of Amitai-Preiss, ''op.cit.'', in ''Journal of World History'' '''12''':2:476 (2001).
* Perry, Charles. "The Taste for Layered Bread among the Nomadic Turks and the Central Asian Origins of Baklava", in ''A Taste of Thyme: Culinary Cultures of the Middle East'' (ed. Sami Zubaida, Richard Tapper), 1994. ISBN 1-86064-603-4.
* Roden Claudia, "A New Book of Middle Eastern Food" ISBN 01-404658-8
* Vryonis, Speros, ''The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor'', 1971. Quoted in Perry (1994).
* Wasti, Syed Tanvir, "The Ottoman Ceremony of the Royal Purse", ''Middle Eastern Studies'' '''41''':2:193–200 (March 2005)

{{Credit wikipedia}}

[[Category:Greek desserts]]

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 Perry then assembles evidence to show that layered breads were created by Turks in Central Asia and argues that the "missing link" between the Central Asian folded or layered breads (which did not include nuts) and modern phyllo-based pastries like ''baklava'' is the Azerbaijani dish ''Bakı pakhlavası'', which involves layers of dough and nuts, but not as thin phyllo dough as used today, which probably was developed in the kitchens of the Topkapı Palace. Indeed, the sultan presented trays of baklava to the Janissaries every 15th of Ramadan in a ceremonial procession called the ''Baklava Alayı''.<ref>Wasti, 2005</ref>
-Other claims about its origins include: that it is of Assyrian<ref>http://www.kitchenproject.com/history/Baklava.htm</ref> origin, dates back to ancient Mesopotamia, and was mentioned in a Mesopotamian cookbook on walnut dishes; that al-Baghdadi describes it in his 13th-century cookbook as a popular Byzantine dish.  But Claudia Roden<ref>''New Book of Middle Eastern Food'', 2000, ISBN 0-375-40506-2</ref> and Andrew Dalby<ref>''Siren Feasts: A History of Food and Gastronomy in Greece'', 1997, ISBN 0-415-15657-2</ref> find no evidence for it in [[Arab]], [[Greece|Greek]], or [[Byzantine]] sources before the Ottoman period. Additionally, In Akın and Lambraki <ref> ''Turkish and Greek Cuisine/Türk ve Yunan Mutfağı'' p. 248-249, ISBN 9754584842</ref>, ancient Uzbek ''puskal'' or ''yupka'' and Tatar ''yoka'', sweet and salty savories (boreks) prepared with 10-12 layers of dough, are mentioned as early examples of layered dough style in Turkic regions.
+Other claims about its origins include: that it is of Assyrian<ref>http://www.kitchenproject.com/history/Baklava.htm</ref> origin, dates back to ancient Mesopotamia, and was mentioned in a Mesopotamian cookbook on walnut dishes; that al-Baghdadi describes it in his 13th-century cookbook as a popular Byzantine dish.  But Claudia Roden<ref>''New Book of Middle Eastern Food'', 2000, ISBN 0-375-40506-2</ref> and Andrew Dalby<ref>''Siren Feasts: A History of Food and Gastronomy in Greece'', 1997, ISBN 0-415-15657-2</ref> find no evidence for it in Arab, [[Greece|Greek]], or [[Byzantine]] sources before the Ottoman period. Additionally, In Akın and Lambraki <ref> ''Turkish and Greek Cuisine/Türk ve Yunan Mutfağı'' p. 248-249, ISBN 9754584842</ref>, ancient Uzbek ''puskal'' or ''yupka'' and Tatar ''yoka'', sweet and salty savories (boreks) prepared with 10-12 layers of dough, are mentioned as early examples of layered dough style in Turkic regions.
 One of the oldest known recipes for a sort of proto-baklava is found in a Chinese cookbook written in 1330 under the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty under the name ''güllach'' (Buell, 1999). "Güllaç" is found in Turkish cuisine. Layers of phyllo dough are put one by one in warmed up milk with sugar. It is served with walnut and fresh pomegranate and generally eaten during Ramadan.
@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
-[[Category:Greek desserts]]
+[[Category:Desserts]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 '''Baklava''' is a rich, sweet pastry featured in many cuisines of the former Ottoman countries. It is a pastry made of layers of [[phyllo]] dough filled with chopped walnuts or pistachios and sweetened with syrup or honey.
-Gaziantep, a city in Turkey, is famous for its baklava and, in Turkey, is widely regarded as the native city of the dessert.<ref>[http://www.guide-martine.com/southeastern4.asp Guide Martin: Gaziantep]</ref> {{cuisine}}
+Gaziantep, a city in Turkey, is famous for its baklava and, in Turkey, is widely regarded as the native city of the dessert.<ref>[http://www.guide-martine.com/southeastern4.asp Guide Martin: Gaziantep]</ref>
 == History ==