Layers Of Richness?

 Author: Sanjay Kumar Anand

Hello everyone! Sometimes the same food items are eaten in different regions around the world and are tailored to suit local tastes and preferences. Tracing the history of such dishes can give us an insight into our pasts and what unites us. This time we are going to take a look at one such item- The West Asian Baklava!

The history of this delicacy is quite controversial. Quite a few ethnic groups such as Turks, Arabs, Greeks, Armenians, and Balkans, claim the dish to be their own. However, the origin of this dessert is not clearly documented. One of the most widely believed stories is that a variety of baklava was made by the Assyrians in the 8th Century BC. The dough was filled with a layer consisting of nuts. This was baked in an oven which was heated with burning wood. After some time, the item would be soaked in honey before being consumed.

Some say the dish might have traveled to Greece and other neighboring regions as merchants and sailors who traveled to Mesopotamia brought home baklavas made there. The dish could have reached Armenia through the Silk Route and then to Rome through trade. Each of these regions has its own distinctive variant of baklava. For instance, the Armenian baklava has cinnamon and cloves whereas the Arabs add rose water and cardamom. Baklava's popularity rose under the Ottoman rule.

Most of the countries that claim baklava as their national dish were part of the Ottoman empire. Back then, this dish was considered a royal delicacy that a skilled chef is believed to have been employed exclusively to make in royal kitchens. Until the end of the 17th Century, this dessert of the sultans was synonymous with wealth and sophistication, was not eaten by the common people. However, this changed over time and today, it can be found in every kind of celebration.

Though many countries have been claiming baklava to be their own, this grew into a full-blown conflict between the Turks and the Greeks in the early 21st Century. To an extent where Turkey Gaziantep baklava received the EU's 'protected status'!
So, that's it in this blog and I hope you enjoyed it!

By - Sanjay Anand