A decadent gastronomic holiday dedicated to baklava, the magnificent Mediterranean and Middle Eastern pastry made of paper-thin phyllo dough, chopped pistachios or walnuts, and spiced syrup.
While layered flatbread pastries trace their origins to ancient Assyria and classical Greece, the intricate, multi-layered confection known as baklava reached its gastronomic zenith in the imperial kitchens of Topkapi Palace in Istanbul during the Ottoman Empire. In the 17th century, the Sultan offered trays of baklava to the elite Janissaries in an elaborate procession known as the 'Baklava Alayı'. Featuring up to forty whisper-thin layers of hand-stretched phyllo dough, melted clarified butter, finely minced pistachios from Gaziantep or walnuts from Thessaly, and infused with lemon-cardamom syrup or orange blossom water, baklava stands as a crowning jewel of global confectionery craft.
