Baklawa

Directions

1. 1
   Prepare the syrup first.
2. 2
   Dissolve the sugar in the water with the lemon juice and simmer a few minutes, until it thickens enough to coat a spoon.
3. 3
   Add orange-blossom or rose water and simmer for 1/2 minute.
4. 4
   Allow to cool, then chill in the refrigerator.
5. 5
   In a greased baking pan, a little smaller then the sheets of fillo, lay half the sheets, one at a time, brushing each with melted butter and letting the edges come up the sides of the tray or overhang.
6. 6
   Spread the nuts of your choice evenly over the sheets.
7. 7
   Then cover with the remaining sheets, brushing each, including the top one, with melted butter.
8. 8
   With a sharp knife, cut diagonal parallel lines 1 1/22 inches apart into diamond shapes right through to the bottom.
9. 9
   Bake the baklawa in a preheated 350F oven for 3035 minutes, or until it is puffed up and golden.
10. 10
    Remove from the oven, and pour the cold syrup over the hot baklawa along the slashed lines.
11. 11
    The amount of syrup called for is the usual one.
12. 12
    If you prefer to use less, pour on three-quarters or half the amount, and let people help themselves to more if they wish to.
13. 13
    When cool and ready to serve, cut the pieces of pastry out again and lift them out one by one onto a serving dish, or turn the whole pastry out (by turning it upside down onto a large sheet and then turning it over again on the serving dish) and cut out again along the original lines.
14. 14
    Use vegetable oil instead of butter if you like.
15. 15
    Kul-wa-shkur (eat and thank) is filled with ground blanched almonds mixed with half their weight in sugar.
16. 16
    In this case, use half the amount of syrup.
17. 17
    In Iraq and Iran, they flavor the almond with 1 tablespoon ground cardamom.
18. 18
    Sometimes the amount of filling goes up to 2 pounds almonds.
19. 19
    In Greece, they stir a spoonful or two of honey into the syrup.
20. 20
    When using walnuts, you can mix 2 teaspoons cinnamon into the filling.
21. 21
    For a cream-filled Turkish muhallebili baklava, bring to the boil 3 1/2 cups milk.
22. 22
    Mix 1/2 cup rice flour with 1/2 cup cold milk to a paste.
23. 23
    Add this to the boiling milk, stirring vigorously, and continue to cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens.
24. 24
    Simmer for about 15 minutes, adding about 1/3 cup sugar towards the end.
25. 25
    Let it cool before using as a filling instead of the nuts.
26. 26
    All over the Middle East, baklawa and konafa are present at every party and served at every occasion.
27. 27
    No bakery or cafe could be without them.
28. 28
    They even go in donkey carts on those national day-long picnics to the cemeteries, filling the huge baskets alongside the pickles, bread, lettuce, and falafel (page 61).
29. 29
    They are part of the celebrations of rejoicing with the dead; tokens of love for the departed, who are believed to come out from the tombs to play on the seesaws and swings, and to enjoy the merry dancers, musicians, jugglers, and gala-gala men (magicians) with their relatives.
30. 30
    The pastries are not mentioned in medieval Persian or Arab works, and seem to have made their appearance in the region during the time of the Ottoman Empire.
31. 31
    They are the best-known Middle Eastern pastries abroad.
32. 32
    Unfortunately, they are known at their worst, because, as with all food prepared commercially in a foreign country, they are invariably degraded.
33. 33
    The cooking fats used are the cheapest, peanuts are sometimes used instead of pistachios, walnuts, or almonds, and too much syrup is used to give them a longer shelf life.