[Sca-cooks] Period Baklava

[David Friedman]

>On Apr 4, 2007, at 10:10 PM, Stefan li Rous wrote:
>
>>  Yes, that is why I refer to that Florilegium file as "Period *baklava-
>>  like* layered pastries". Hmmm. Okay, what is the difference between
>>  "phyllo" and "puff pastry"? I thought they were basically the same,
>  > multiple, thin layers of pastry. And both post-1600.
>
>Puff pastry has antecedents that may come from before 1600 CE. While 
>phyllo also has period antecedents, phyllo qua phyllo is pretty much 
>an industrial product, which probably makes it, in its current, 
>recognizable form, somewhat newer than puff pastry. Which, while 
>often factory-made, can still be made in a home kitchen without 
>changing the basic method.
>
>The difference is in the manufacture and assembly of the layers. Puff 
>pastry is laminated with butter, folded, rolled, folded and rolled 
>again, repeatedly until it's a fairly thin sheet composed of 
>thousands of alternating layers of flour-and-water-dough, and butter. 
>Think of Damascus steel done in dough and butter. When you bake it, 
>the water in the pastry turns to steam, causing the pastry to inflate
>and become rigid as it bakes.

In a previous post I gave the recipe for the leafy dish, which 
exactly fits your description except that it is fried rather than 
baked and is from the 13th century.
-- 
David Friedman
www.daviddfriedman.com
daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/