New Baklava

To pile up - that means baklava literally. Stacked sheets of filo pastry with
in between sweet-scented foods. Baklava belongs to the culinary heritage of the peoples
from the former Persian and Ottoman Empires. And everywhere – from the Balkans and the
Middle East to the Maghreb and from Armenia to Cyprus - people know the
to appreciate the delicacy. There are many variants of this pastry alias dessert; dependent
of the region, the dough layers are filled with walnuts, almonds or pistachios
and the syrup also lends itself to free interpretation. There is craftsmanship involved
to get the phyllo dough as smooth as silk and to fold the baklava correctly
and to cut. The best baklava bakers
can still be found in Gaziantep, that is
considered the birthplace of baklava. When you see the men in full operation,
you can tell from their faces that this occupation
never bored. The moment when
the cold syrup is poured over the warm, chinoise-cut baklava… a true one
apotheosis.