Australian Gourmet Traveller - (07)July 2020 (1)

Anatomy of a dish

THEPASTRY

Thewordfilo,orphylloin Greek,

translatestoleaforsheet;fittingasthis

sweetdessertcomprisessheet-like

layersofcrisp,tissue-thinfilopastry.

Somevariationsuseonelargesheet

torollupthenuttyfilling,whileothers

featuremultiplesheetsdelicately

layeredontopofoneanother.

THESYRUP

Syrupis thefinalandessentialelementthatgivesthissweet

baked-gooditssignaturestickycoat.Commonbaklavasyrups

combinehoneyordatesyrupwithsugar,wateranda mixofspices,

whichis thendrizzledorbrushedoverthefreshlybakedpastry.

THEFILLING

Fillingsvarydependingontheregionalstyle

baklavais madein,butwillusuallyfeature

somekindofnut.Walnutsarepopularin

Greece,whilealmondsandpistachioswillbe

foundthroughoutTurkey.Rosewaterand

rosepetalsarea popularadditionthroughout

theMiddleEastanddowntoMorocco,as

wellascitruszestsuchaslemonandorange.

ThehistoryofthisMiddleEasterntreat

is more layered than you might think.

Baklava

Melbourne’sA1Bakeryhasdevelopeda cultfollowingforitsLebanese

treats,includinga classicfilobaklava.AthenaCakeShopinSydney’s

Marrickville also offers multiple Greek-style variations of the sweet.

Find

it

T

hehistoryofbaklavahaslongbeen

disputed,withboththeGreeksand

theTurksclaimingtheextravagant

sweetastheirown.Whilesome

historianssuggestit datesbacktoRoman

timesandevolvedfroma honey-covered

dessertcalledplacenta,otherstrace

itsoriginsallthewaybacktothe

Assyrianempire,circa800BC.

However,it wastheAncient

Greekswhodevelopedthe

thinpastryphyllo,giving

risetothedelicatedessert

we knowtoday.Later,

astheOttomanEmpire

expanded,othercultures

addedtheirowntwist

tothedish,including

ArmeniansandArabs,

whoaddedspicesand

florals.Today,this

intricatelylayered

andgloriouslysticky,

nut-lacedparcelis a

favouriteamongsweet

tooths the world over.

GOURMET TRAVELLER 43

WORDS GEORGIE MEREDITH. PHOTOGRAPHY BEN DEARNLEY. STYLING GERALDINE MUNOZ.