[Sca-cooks] Period Baklava

otsisto otsisto at socket.net
Thu Apr 5 13:27:59 PDT 2007


Phyllo, fillo or filo (Gr. means leaf)is not a batter. To my knowledge
manufactured phyllo is a dough that is rolled. The only manufactured
batter/dough is Kataifi which is drizzled on a hot plate. So please cite
your source.

Thank you,
De

Turkish for Phyllo is yufka.
Some (w/no docs) claim that the Assyrians had a layered pastry with nuts and
honey poured over it.

-----Original Message-----
Yes, I realize that. And you can make various varak-like pastry
sheets and use it like phyllo, but phyllo, under that name, is made
by a machine that pours a thin batter over hot rollers that bake the
batter, scrapes the pastry off the rollers, and stacks the result to
allow the steam escaping from the pastry to render it flexible. Yes,
very similar to the leafy dish, also very similar to the process for
making the wrappers for Shanghai spring rolls, and not all that far
from some versions of oatcakes, either.

My point being that while antecedents may be substantially
(structurally and even functionally) similar to phyllo, they may have
sufficient conceptual dissimilarities that they become, on some
levels, something else. I haven't seen (although there may be)
evidence that phyllo, under that name, predates the mechanical
process used to make it, so I have to wonder about the extent to
which some of these antecedents are really linear antecedents.
(snip)
Yes, we're getting a bit forensically chi-chi here,
I suppose when we look at the antecedents for phyllo, it's easy to
suppose that the Turks are a likely bridge between Middle Eastern
varak and Greek phyllo. Do we have any reason to believe the Greeks
were eating a phyllo-like pastry before, roughly, 1453? Is it an
early example of a marketing campaign altering a national cuisine?

Adamantius, too early in the morning and not enough caffeine...






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