A Brief History of Baklava

The history behind baklava is unclear since people have enjoyed nuts and honey聽for millennia; they鈥檙e humanity鈥檚 first treats along with fruit. Asking around isn鈥檛 helpful either as many Middle Eastern countries, including modern Turkey and Greece, claim the dessert as their own.聽

Don’t get me wrong; I鈥檓 not saying all these countries are fibbing, they鈥檙e all entitled in a way because baklava predates modern frontiers. The dessert goes back to the Assyrian Empire 1,300 years ago with the first version of the baklava: unleavened bread topped with local nuts and drenched in honey.聽

A more sophisticated version of the baklava was developed centuries later in the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. A cookbook recovered from a palace in the ancient city of Constantinople already displayed baklava as a favorite dessert, indeed fit for the high society and royalty.聽

Baklava鈥檚 ingredients are neither expensive nor rare; honey has always been readily available, and so have walnuts and almonds, so why was baklava so highly regarded? Because of filo (phyllo)聽dough, an extraordinary invention.

Made with flour, water and oil or butter, crafting filo dough is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Not anyone can create ultra-thin layers of dough, artistically separated only by the thinnest brushstroke of butter for the perfect crispy texture.聽

Now imagine up to fourteen layers of stacked nuts and dough. It comes as no surprise that only affluent people could afford expert bakers to satisfy their cravings for baklava.

Filo dough is not baklava’s only exclusive ingredient. Some regional recipes call for jasmine extract, and others will taint the upper layer with the rare and expensive saffron. Above all, the craftsmanship needed to make baklava is its most valued asset.

The dessert eventually permeated down to all layers of society, and baklava became a specialty reserved for weddings, festivities and special occasions all across the region.

Since then, the dessert has been a staple in all countries with Mesopotamian or Ottoman ancestors. Obviously, their people have taken the dessert with them around the world.

Today there鈥檚 no one baklava, but many.聽You can find infinite variations, and they鈥檙e all well worth trying.聽