Everything You Wanted to Know About Turkish Baklava

Have you ever tasted Turkish Baklava?

Layers of thin, fragile dough, stuffed with pistachios soaked in melted sugar, are enough to make "baklava" the favorite Turkish desserts bite for sugary food lovers.

Here, with this type of Turkish sweets, food cravings do not end, but increase endlessly, as they are stuffed with different types of nuts and sweetened by pouring syrup or honey on them, which makes them more cohesive, so they received an honorary status as they topped the list of the Ten Most Famous Foods in the world.

Where Did the Name of Turkish Baklava Come From?

According to one tale, the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid had a cook named (Lawa) who created this dessert. When the Sultan tasted it for the first time, he said to a guest: (Baak Lawa NEH Yaptiye) i.e. “Look what did Lawa make!”

It is said that the first person who introduced this industry to Aleppo was a person named Freij from Istanbul who had lived more than a hundred years ago in Aleppo where he opened a shop for it near the “New Neighborhood” selling it in Ramadan. Afterwards, it was sold on various days of the year and thus Aleppo surpassed Istanbul in this industry.

Despite this version which claims that the origin of baklava is Turkish, there are several people who claim that they invented baklava. Others say baklava is likely of Assyrian origin.

Baklava is one of the reasons of dispute between Turkey and European Cyprus due to posters distributed in Austria on the occasion of the celebration of Europe Day which descripted baklava as the original dish of the Greek Cypriots.

What is baklava

Baklava is a kind of sweets, made of thin layers of dough, stuffed with nuts such as walnuts, pistachios or else, and is sweetened by pouring sirup (Shira) or honey on them.

The Most Popular Types of Baklava and Their Names

Walnut baklava

It is a kind of traditional baklava stuffed with walnuts and is considered the most famous and widespread type of baklava in the Arab world and the world.

Pistachio baklava

This baklava is made of (Entabi) pistachios and is considered one of the most famous names of Turkish baklava types.

Creamy Pistachio baklava

A traditional Turkish sweets made of a mixture of cream and pistachios.

Burma Baklava

Thin dough rolls of a round shape stuffed with walnuts or pistachios.

Azerbaijani baklava

Baklava in Azerbaijan is made of almonds or walnuts and cut into parallelogram shape and served on holidays.

Algerian baklava

Algerian baklava is made of and filled with a mixture of sugar with almonds and walnuts. The number of dough layers varies depending on the region.

Armenian baklava

Armenian baklava is served with cloves and cumin.

Baklava with hazelnuts

Baklava stuffed with hazelnuts is popular in the Black Sea region.

Almond baklava

Almond baklava is popular in the Aegean sea region.

Greek baklava

Greek baklava is made of 33 thin layers of dough; the number indicates how many years did Jesus Christ live. Greek baklava is characterized by the fact that it’s make of honey, walnuts and cinnamon.

Iranian baklava

​Iranian baklava is distinguished by the fact that it’s made of saffron or coconut, in addition to nuts and thin layers of dough.

Turkish baklava is also popular for its many varieties, shapes and names, including: Dolma baklava, Belle plait baklava, Sultan baklava, Prince baklava, Belle lips baklava, Pinch baklava, Turkish chocolate baklava, which is served along with Turkish coffee at popular celebrations and for guests.

The Most Popular Brands of Turkish Baklava

Gaziantep in Turkey is the most important baklava-making city in the world where there are more than 100 specialized baklava shops. It is distinguished as the sweets in which the Entabi (Halabi) pistachio is the main ingredient which is grown and abundant in its territory.

It is considered one of the oldest types of baklava. As for the famous Turkish brands, the main ones are:

HAFIZ MUSTAFA

Hafiz Mustafa desserts started since 1864 during the reign of Sultan Abdul Aziz Al-Othmani. The beginning was through Ismail Haki, Mustafa's father, from whom Mustafa learned and then his son Hafiz Mustafa Ismail Haki followed his father’s footsteps and invested the global demand for the brand.

He expanded the business from traditional confectionery makers to the manufacture of coffee, tea, chocolate, sweets and many products, selling and marketing them all over the world, as Hafiz Mustafa stores have several branches in Turkey alone.

Karakoy gullouoglu

The Karakoy Gulluoglu family has been engaged in baklava business since 1800. It is known that Hassi Mohammed Gulu, who is called " Gilo Chalabi” is the first in the family to start producing baklava.

Making and selling sweets has always been important in Gaziantep. When Gullo Chalabi entered this business, he went to Damascus and Aleppo, which were famous for sweets, to learn the details of making baklava. He stayed there for 6 months and learned a lot about baklava.

When he returned he set up his own booth. After his death, his son Hash Mahmud Gulu continued to work and began to make baklava with a thin layer of dough made by a roller. When Hash Mahmud Gulu's four sons continued their father's business, baklava making became a family tradition.

In 1930, the Gulu family began to send baklava to other nearby cities. This made the family well-known in a wide area. And then the grandson of Hash; Mahmud Mahmud Gulu, Mustafa Gulu, decided to transfer the project to Istanbul and it was the first store in Karakoy, in 1949, and also the first baklava store outside Gaziantep.

In the following years, the business became widespread, and now there are a lot of shops everywhere. Some of these shops belong to the members of the Gulu family and some to the experts who grew up in the store.

Faruk Oglu Baklava

Beyond being a brand and company name, the name Güllüoğlu, identified with baklava, is a family name rooted in the Gaziantep province of Turkey. The family has been engaged in the baklava business since 1871. This title has lasted, from father to son, for five generations.

In 1871, the great-grandfather Gulu Chalabi decided to adopt this activity, which he saw in Aleppo on his way to Hajj.

Safa Baklava

Safa Baklava is not as famous as the rest of the brands mentioned, but it was very popular among Arabs, as Arabs are interested in buying Turkish baklava from this brand as its prices are very appropriate with a distinctive quality. It has got four branches in Istanbul, two in the Başakşehir area and two in the city center.

Koçak Baklava

Antep or kucak Baklava, which is located in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, is one of the most famous shops offering traditional Turkish baklava.

The Importance of Turkish Baklava for Turks

Baklava was widespread throughout the Ottoman Empire, and it was often eaten in Saraya and palaces. The Palace Cooks took great care that the baklava dough is very thin, and this suggests that it is possible that the dough used to make baklava was previously somehow thick.

Baklava trays were distributed to Janissary units and other military units, provided that every ten people had a tray of baklava. Soldiers’ reception and transfer of the baklava to the military barracks was done with a luxurious ceremony; ready-made baklava trays were wrapped in a towel, which is a kind of bathrobe, and laid in front of the kitchen of the Sultan's Palace and the soldiers who will receive these trays are lined up opposite them.

Selahad Agha begins first taking the first two trays in the name of the Sultan because the Sultan is considered the number one Janissary. The soldiers take the remaining trays each of which has two people who pass a green-painted wood through the buttonholes of the towel carrying it on their shoulders.

The heads of each regiment walk in front, and the holders of trays walk behind coming out of the open doors and marching towards the barracks in the form of a procession.

This parade was called the “baklava parade”. Istanbul residents would go out to the markets to watch the baklava parade showing their love for the Sultan and the soldiers.

Baklava is present in the rituals of the celebrations and occasions of the Turks. It is even given as gifts. Friends are invited to eat it in restaurants amongst themselves. Turkish baklava has spread with its delicious crispy taste that managed to attract tourists and visitors, not only Turkish citizens, who consider it their favorite dessert.

It is not strange that a visitor to Turkey carries quantities of them to his country, where he sees them as a valuable gift that can be presented to his friends and relatives.

Order Turkish Baklava While in Your Country?

It seems that the topic of ordering baklava via internet while at home from Turkey is a bit strange, but believe it or not, there are many websites specialized in selling Turkish baklava, including these brands, and shipping it to any country in the world.

It arrives fresh and tasty as if you are eating it in Turkey. One of the most famous websites is this regard is: the Sweet Saray website.

The original Turkish baklava is one of the most delicious types of baklava all over the world; it can be made at home, of course, but baklava with Turkish pistachios and baklava with Turkish nuts remains the most delicious taste because they are made by the touch of the Turkish ancestors.

You can order the most delicious Turkish baklava wherever you are from Sweet Saray online store which collects the tastiest desserts and the finest Turkish products in one place.

Give a Friend Turkish Baklava Gift Box?

Sweet Saray Store, specialized in Turkish sweets, offers you the possibility of presenting gifts to friends or family, of luxurious Turkish sweets, where it prepares boxes of the finest types of assorted baklava, packaging them with a distinctive gift wrap, and delivering them to you wherever you are in the Middle East or Europe.

You can check the sweet Saray gift boxes of Turkish baklava from here.