CSvax:cak (10/22/82)
At long last, here's the recipe I promised....
BAKLAVA
Heat oven to 300 - 325 deg F.
_D_o_u_g_h
1 lb. strudel dough or fillo leaves
1 lb. well melted unsalted butter
14 x 10 tray or two smaller ones
_F_i_l_l_i_n_g
1 lb. walnut meat, chopped medium fine
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
_S_y_r_u_p
4 c. sugar
2 c. water
1 Tsp. lemon juice
Make the syrup first: Boil the water and sugar for 15
minutes. Add lemon juice, boil 10 more minutes, set aside to
cool.
Make the filling: Mix all ingredients well. I prefer the
walnuts fairly coarse; some people like them quite fine.
Cut dough with scissors to size of tray. Handle dough very
carefully; do not press hard on it at any time. Cover with
wax paper and damp towel. Take out one sheet at a time and
place in the pan, brushing with melted butter between each
layer.
Continue until you have about 12 sheets buttered. Small and
broken pieces of dough can be used in the center, but there
must be butter between every two layers.
Spread walnut filling across the tray.
Put on a sheet of dough, brush on butter, and continue until
all the dough is used up.
Cut into diamond shapes:
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etc.
but don't press hard!
- 2 -
Bake for about 1 1/2 hour, until golden brown. Be careful
not to burn the bottom or the walnuts, esp. with a glass
pan.
Let cool on rack for 5 minutes.
Add syrup which should have cooled to room temparature; let
cool for at least two hours before eating.
Random comments:
Baklava is claimed by almost every Balkan state as its own
invention; most people in this country encounter it in Greek
restaurants. If the truth were known, it's probably the
Turkish who invented it, as is the case for many other "typ-
ically Greek" dishes. This recipe follows Bulgarian tradi-
tion, in that the filling is very simple. Variations include
chopping the walnuts very finely or even grinding them,
adding spices to the filling such as chopped cloves, cin-
namon, etc., or making multiple layers of filling. I person-
ally like this very simple version best. I pronounce the
name of the dish with all /ah/ sounds, accent on the first
syllable, Greek-speaking persons will put the accent on the
second.
A 14x10 pan is almost too big to handle. I typically make it
in two 7-3/4 by 11 pans, which is just about the size of a
half sheet of the dough I buy. If you can make your own
strudel dough, it will be even better... but much more
effort.
It is best to have a friend help you prepare the pans. One
person handles the dough and places it in the pan, while the
other applies butter. It is very important that sufficient
butter be placed between layers so that each layer gets
flaky, rather than having them stick together. Pay particu-
lar attention to the edges and corners.
In case you haven't noticed, this is very sweet stuff. Goes
great with a fine cup of coffee, espresso, or Turkish cof-
fee, even with sugar. Two pieces will probably fill anyone
up. It's a lot of effort, but well worth it.