Traditional Turkish dessert "Baklava"
The crucial element of all baklava is that it consists of layers on layers of phyllo dough with chopped nuts and / or other treats on each layer, which are then stacked together and cooked in a syrupy sugar mix of sugar and water, regularly poured over becomes dry.
We list the varieties and you can decide which one is your favorite!
Fıstıklı Baklava;
This is the most common in Turkey, it simply means pistachio baklava. It is usually cut into squares or small rectangles and sprinkled with pistachio and with chopped pistachios in the dough layers.
Kuru Baklava;
Kuru means dry, and kuru baklava is dry baklava, that is, without the syrupy sugar water dipped over it. This brings out the flavors of the nuts and the phyllo dough itself is already sweet. Rather than being cooked in the aqueous syrup, it is covered in a thicker syrup that makes the baklava sweeter and drier than regular baklava. It can be made with all nuts, although pistachio is the most common and most popular.
Cevizli Baklava;
Ceviz means walnuts, so this is just walnut baklava. Since walnuts have a more bitter taste than pistachio, it is less sweet than the pistachio and, if you order more than one variety at a time, forms a nice counterbalance to many of the dessert's sweeter forms.
Bülbül Yuvası;
This is a baklava whose name literally means 'nightingale nest' because of the way it looks, with a round shape and a hollow interior. The center is filled with pistachios or walnuts and topped with syrupy sugar water. It tends to be a bit harder in consistency than other types of baklava, and when served with walnuts (which is perhaps the most common), it almost feels like a meal rather than a lighter dessert!
Sütlü Nuriye;
The lightest and wettest of all baklavas, Sütlü Nuriye, is topped with milk instead of syrup, which gives the baklava a different color and a lighter feel. Since it's made with milk, it goes off faster than other types of baklava, so it's eaten fresh, but when you just take it out of the oven it's absolutely heavenly.
Fıstık Sarma;
These pistachio rolls are perhaps the most decadent of all baklavas, as they consist almost exclusively of pistachio and sugar. It is less sweet than any other baklava and, of course, not made with layers of phyllo dough. The standard sugar water syrup is still sprinkled on top, and the richness of the pistachio flavor in these sandwiches is unlike any other dessert in the world. A must to try next time you are in Turkey!
