BAKLAVA
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
3/4 cup finely chopped pistachios
1/2 cup chopped blanched almonds (lightly, toasted)
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 1/4 lb sweet butter, melted
1 package commercial phyllo sheets
SYRUP
2 1/2 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup water
1 orange's rind, finely grated
1 lemon's rind, finely grated
5 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup honey
Directions
Combine nuts, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Brush a 13 x 9 x 2-inch
baking pan well with butter. Separate 25 phyllo sheets from package.
Place under a smooth, damp towel to prevent drying. Wrap remaining
filo well. Freeze for future use. Place one phyllo sheet in pan.
Trim to fit. Brush generously with melted butter. Repeat procedure
until there are 5 layers of buttered phyllo in the pan. Sprinkle with
1/4 nut mixture. Repeat this procedure two more times, ending with
phyllo. Drizzle any remaining butter over top. Bake in 350 degree
oven 1-1/2 hours or until golden brown. Remove baklava from oven.
Using a sharp knife, immediately cut long, diagonal lines from corner
to corner, forming an "X". Follow these guidelines to cut baklava
into serving-size diamonds. While still hot, pour cooled syrup over
baklava.
Syrup: Combine sugar, water, orange and lemon rinds, cloves and
cinnamon stick in saucepan. Bring to boil. Simmer, uncovered, about
5 minutes to thicken syrup slightly. Remove from heat. Discard
spices. Stir in honey. Cool at room temperature. Pour over hot
baklava. Allow to stand overnight before serving.
From: "Classic Greek Cooking" by Daphne Metaxas. ISBN: 0-911954-31-7
Typed for you by Karen Mintzias
Servings: 30 servings
Baklava (Metaxas) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Dessert
The History of Recipes
It is quite possible to prove the history of written cooking instructions far back into the distant past, certainly as far into history as the early Egyptians, and possibly even further. Having said that, mostly, these old recipes were just simple pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for preparing food.
In fact, the oldest recipe discovered so far, according to experts in ancient history are some tablets in the Sumerian language describing the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making people feel `exhilarated, wonderful and blissful`. Progressing into Roman times around 25BC a roman called Apicius created a few scripts describing recipes cooked by wealthy roman citizens. In his scrolls, Apicius tells us how the meals of wealthy Romans were separated into hors d`oeuvres, entrees and desserts, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. Aspicius also tells us how the early Romans used a wide range of aromatic flavours, including some familiar names for example bay, rue and parsley. Later on, we find a couple of interesting recipe books dating from the 1300s : a book titled `Forme of Cury`, and another named `Curye on Inglish`. Don`t be fooled by the titles though, these books are nothing to do with the indian curry that is served today, but rather descriptions of the types of food on the menues of the upper classes. Later on in the 1400s, people returning from the crusades brought us many spices and herbs from Arab cuisine, such as basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new foods and spices created an outbreak in recipe books, the majority of which still exist in academic collections. By the advent of the twentieth century, cookbooks were in high demand, mostly due to higher levels of literacy, more free time and a general increase in wealth. |
We hope you enjoy this Baklava (Metaxas) recipe.
