SC - Introduction

[Weaver8002@aol.com]

The baklava thread seems to have degenerated into casual chitchat 
unrelated to either baklava or period cooking, so I thought it might 
be time to sum up what we know.

1. There appear to be no period recipes for baklava, at least none 
that anyone here knows about. There also appear to be no period 
references to filo, although there is a 13th century recipe for a 
fried pastry (Musammana) that gives a somewhat similar effect by a 
different technique.

2. There is a modern version of baklava, using something like a 
pancake instead of the layers of filo, which Charles Perry has 
conjectured may be the ancestor of baklava, and might be period.

3. There was an Ottoman ceremony associated with baklava, but the 
only date anyone has given for it is late 17th century, so it 
provides no evidence that baklava is period.

4. We have an assertion by Hrolf Hrolfsen that "you can easily 
document" baklava by looking at the Mullah Nasrudin stories, but no 
actual evidence, and he has so far not showed up on the list to 
defend his views--on that subject or on the unchanging nature of 
Islamic culture.

Hence it appears that, so far, no evidence has been offered that what 
we call baklava is period.

- -- 
David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/