baklava recipe (was Re: SC - Help with Cooking period Italian food.)

[Gwynydd of Culloden]

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Elisabetta
> I am fairly new to the list and the SCA in general.
Greetings!  I am sure that you will continue to find this List an
interesting place to spend time - I know I do.

> Thanks so much for your help - you are all so knowledgable and I am so
> envious of your intellegence in these things!  I searched for hours trying
> to find the simplest things and after joining the list, learned more in
the
> first day than I did in the months of searching I'd done!
*smile* I know the feeling.

> and they are just fascinating!  I am invited to a feast at the Potrero war
> in May and was requested to bring baklava - is baklava period does anyone
> know?  Or is there something similar to baklava that *is* period?

Hi, I am sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you with this, but I
was waiting on a reply from Hrolf Hrolfsen about his baklava.   Here is his
response to my request for a recipe for it and also for documentation.  This
should help, although you will see that he is not saying that this recipe is
definitely period - simply that he believes there to be a good chance that
it does not stray far from the original (at least, that is how I read this
message.  I will get onto the people he mentioned and see if they can help.

"The recipe is easy.   As for documentation - someone else seems to have my
recipe books.  Try Min or Lorix as the most likely culprits.  In fact you
can easily document the existence of baklava by finding early collections of
Mullah Nasrudin stories (which date from the 13th century).  There are
several which involve baklava by name as it was his favourite dessert.  As
for the recipe, until I get my books back, I honestly cannot remember.   I
can say that this is one of the areas of the world where methods do not
change (with the exception of the tomato / tamarind swap and the ready
adoption of chilli - which was done in period) over the centuries.

Baklawa

500g fillo pastry (note 22 sheets) 1½ cup melted sameh or unsalted butter
Nut filling
2 egg whites
½ cup castor sugar
2 cups coarsely ground walnuts
2 cups medium ground almonds
1 teaspoon rosewater
note that the nuts should be a bit under a level "scoop" when buying.  Be a
little generous with all your quantities when in doubt.

Atar Syrup
2 cups granulated sugar
1½ cups water
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoon rose water
Stack 7-8 sheets fillo pastry on a flat surface, keeping remainder covered
with a damp tea towel.  Brush top sheet of stack with butter, lift sheet and
replace on stack, butter side down.  Brush top with butter, lift two sheets
and turn over on stack.  Repeat until all 7-8 sheets are buttered, lifting
an extra sheet each time.  Top and bottom of finished stack should remain
unbuttered.  With kitchen scissors cut the buttered stack of fillo into
squares (we get 24 to a sheet).  Prepare remainder of fillo, folding or
cutting to achieve 10 layers.  Beat egg whites until stiff and beat sugar in
gradually.  Fold in nuts and rose water.  Butter top of fillo square and
place a spoonful of nut mix in the centre.  Gently raise the corners and
fold into a lily shape.  Place close together in a buttered 25 x 33 cm
baking dish.  Place into the centre of a preheated 180°C (350°F) oven for 30
minutes, reducing this to 140°C (285°F) and cooking for a further 15
minutes.

Meanwhile, dissolve the sugar in water over heat, add lemon juice and bring
to the boil.  Boil for 15 minutes, stir in rose water and cool.  Spoon syrup
over hot pastries and leave to cool - preferably overnight.

This cooling, btw, is the centre of at least one of the Nasruddin stories.

Hrolf"

I hope this was of use to you,

Lady Gwynydd of Culloden
Barony of Ynys Fawr in the Principality of Lochac part of the Kingdom of the
West