History of baklava

The history of baklava begins in ancient times, and the prototype of sweet Turkish food can be found in ancient Assyria. On the territory of modern Iran, baklava has been prepared since ancient times, and this dish is still an integral part of their wedding ceremony. Even before the wedding ceremony, the bride must bake baklava, and then serve it to the groom's parents to prove her skills and show that her husband will eat only well-prepared dishes after the wedding.

But the real fame for baklava came in the 15th century, when it became the favorite sweet of the padishah, and soon spread among the nobles of the Ottoman Empire. In the Topkapi Palace, located in Istanbul, baklava was first prepared in 1453, during the reign of Sultan Fatih, which can be read even in the ancient Turkish cookbook, which is still carefully stored in the former Sultan's palace, but already as a museum exhibit. Until the decline of the Ottoman Empire, baklava was served only on the tables of sultans, viziers and other noble nobles, it was not available to ordinary people.

Another traveler, Evliya Celebi, who lived in the 17th century, in his memoirs talks about baklava, which he managed to taste in the city of Bitlis, located on the territory of Eastern Turkey. He mentions that even in the recent past, such a sweet dish was available only to the Sultan and his entourage, but by the 17th century baklava, although it was not yet publicly available, was already being prepared in almost all cities of the Ottoman Empire, despite its complex recipe and difficulty in cooking. By that time, the taste of baklava had already been tasted by Greek sailors, who even managed to bring to Athens the recipe for the sweet dish of the padishahs. Now, not only Iranians, Turks, Greeks and inhabitants of the Mediterranean countries, but also the British and even Americans have their own baklava recipes, which are different from each other.

Tags: восточные сладости, пахлава, история пахлавы