Baklava

Baklava is dozens of paper-thin pastry layers with ground nuts, baked in butter and soaked in syrup. It is the best-known dessert of Turkey and of the wider Ottoman and Middle Eastern table, and it is a specialist's craft — most restaurants buy it from a dedicated baklava maker rather than make it in-house.

What it actually is

Sheets of yufka (filo) are rolled until they are almost transparent, then stacked — often forty or more layers — with butter brushed between them and a filling of ground pistachio or walnut in the middle. It bakes until golden, and sugar syrup goes over it while it is still hot.

That syrup is sugar, water and lemon, not honey. The balance is the whole skill: too little syrup and it is dry, too much and the layers go soft.

Gaziantep is the reference city for Turkish baklava, and Antep Baklavası holds an EU protected geographical indication.

How it's served

• In small portions, cut into diamonds or squares — it is very rich.
• With tea or Turkish coffee, rarely on its own.
• In its variants: rolled sarma, or şöbiyet with a cream filling.
• Sometimes with kaymak (clotted cream) alongside.

Writing it on a menu

• Name the nut — pistachio or walnut. It sets the price and it is the first thing guests ask.
• Sell it by the piece or by weight, the way baklava shops do, rather than as a single vague portion.
• Flag the allergens plainly: gluten, nuts and dairy.