TURKIC CLAIM FOR BAKLAVA. Gaziantep is famous for its baklava and regarded there as its native city, though it only appears to have been introduced to Gaziantep from Damascus in 1871. In 2008, the Turkish patent office registered a geographical indication certificate for Antep Baklava. APPLICATION FOR EU REGISTRATION WAS MADE for ANTEP BAKLAVA.
Mavi Boncuk |
Prof. Speros Vryonis writes that the dessert named kopte or kopton (koptoplaukus) liked by the Byzantians so much was similar to he baklava. According to the opinion of Charles Perry American journalist, who is one of those who deny the Byzantine roots of the baklava and prefers its Middle Asian origin, the kopte unlike the baklava was not made of dough but it was a sort of candy-like dessert, and it was made with a method in which a paste was kneaded from crushed teel seeds and warmed honey, it was squashed and then honey mixed with nuts, pistachio, almond or poppy was put between two layers.
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
Turkic peoples 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 Baku pakhlavasi, which involves layers of dough and nuts. The traditional puskal or yupka and Tatar yoka, sweet and salty savories (boreks) prepared with 10-12 layers of dough, are other 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.
The thin phyllo dough as used today was probably developed in the kitchens of the Topkapi Palace. Indeed, the sultan presented trays of baklava to the Janissaries every 15th of Ramadan in a ceremonial procession called the Baklava Alayi.
"This earliest known version of baklava was baked only on special occasions. In fact, historically baklava was considered a food for the rich until the mid-19th century.
In Turkey, to this day one can hear a common expression often used by the poor, or even by the middle class, saying: "I am not rich enough to eat baklava and borek every day". From 18th century on, there were however, some cosmetic modifications in shaping and in the presentation of baklava on a baking tray (called Sini). The Phyllo (meaning leaf in Greek) dough (called Yufka) which was traditionally layered and cut into squares or triangles, were given a "French touch" in late 18th century. As the Empire began opening itself to Western cultural (and culinary) influences, the General manager (Kahyabasi) of the Imperial Kitchen didn't miss the opportunity to hire Monsieur Guillaume, a former pastry chef of Marie Antoinette, who in exile at the Ottoman Turkish Palace after learning how to bake baklava, created the "dome" technique of cutting and folding of the baklava squares which was named "Baklava Francaise" (French Baklava) after the nationality of its creator." (Source: http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2006/05/baklava_war_int.php)
Farouk Mardam-Bey, in his book Ziryab: Authentic Arab Cuisine, explains that while baklava is likely Turkish, "the pastry [made outside of Alep, Damascus, Beirut and Tripoli] is often mistreated" (211).
Claudia Rhoden, writing in The New Book of Middle Eastern Food, explains the centrality of baklava to life in the Middle East, informs us that it probably made its appearance during the Ottoman period, and lamentingly writes that while very well known the world over, "they [baklava and kunefe, another common pastry] are known at their worst, because, as with all food prepared commercially in a foreign country, they are invariably degraded" (431).
Baklava, the missing link
Antep Baklavası (in Turkish)
BAKLAVA - A traditional dessert
[1] The taste for Layered Bread among the Nomadic Turks and the Central Asian Origins of Baklava by Charles Perry.
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