Baklava is a popular dessert found on menus at Persian restaurants throughout the world. The stacked pastry features both sweet and salty notes, making for a filling, flavorful treat. For a few talking points during your next meal at a Persian restaurant, below are some insights regarding how the decadent dish is created and its rich history.

How Is Baklava Made?

Resembling a multi-layer sandwich, a nut mixture is nestled between thin layers of phyllo dough. The filling includes chopped almonds, walnuts, and/or pistachios, sugar, ground cinnamon, and cloves. After creating the mixture, a paper-thin sheet of dough is spread out on a baking dish. The filling is then spread on top and another sheet is added, with an egg wash applied. As the dough is fragile and prone to breaking, making the perfect baklava from scratch can be a time-consuming process that takes a lot of practice to master. After all the layers are added, the dessert is left to bake in the oven until golden brown. A syrup made of cinnamon, sugar, lemon juice, honey, and water is then drizzled on top. 

Where Does the Dessert Come From?

Baklava is a popular dish that has ancient roots in the cuisine of many countries and ethnic groups throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean. Thought to be of Central Asian Turkic origin, the dessert was historically considered a decadent morsel reserved for the upper class on special occasions, such as Ramadan. Greeks created the technique of rolling dough as thin as a leaf, with “phyllo” meaning “leaf” in the Greek language. The earliest written recipes for baklava date back to the 1300s.

If you want to nibble on flaky, sweet baklava made to perfection, visit Sufi Kitchen. The Persian restaurant has gained a reputation throughout Fulton and DeKalb counties in Georgia as the go-to spot for melt-in-your-mouth kebobs, chopped cucumber and tomato salads, and additional Persian cuisine using fresh, healthy ingredients. To ask about specific items on the lunch and dinner menus, call (404) 888-9699. You can also visit the Atlanta-based Persian restaurant online to decide what to order and Facebook to see photos of the food.