A pastry of thin, phyllo-like sheets layered with chopped nuts and bound with sugar or honey syrup, eaten today across the Ottoman Turkish, Greek and wider eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern table. Historians trace it to at least three candidate roots, the Byzantine and Greek placenta-cake and koptoplakous tradition, the medieval Arabic confection lauzinaj, and the Central Asian Turkic tradition of layered breads, and the pastry most likely reached something like its familiar form in the Ottoman imperial kitchens of Topkapi Palace. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Origin Period, From (Year)Sourced to the subject's own accountMarks the 15th century, the earliest known reference to baklava itself by name, as opposed to the earlier and separate precursor dishes (the Greek placenta cake, the Arabic lauzinaj) argued as its roots. Origin Period, To (Year)Sourced to the subject's own accountMarks 1650, when the word baklava is first attested in English-language sources; closes the origin period at the point the dish's name had already spread into English usage, well after the Ottoman-era dish itself existed. Disputed
Origin RegionOttoman Empire / eastern Mediterranean (contested; Greek, Arabic and Central Asian Turkic origin theories all argued) 1 Sourced to the subject's own accountHistorians propose three competing root traditions: the Byzantine and Greek placenta cake and koptoplakous, the medieval Arabic confection lauzinaj, and Central Asian Turkic layered breads; a recognizably Turkish form is generally placed in the Ottoman court kitchens of Topkapi Palace. Classification
CourseSourced to the subject's own account Connections
In Cuisine
Open Questions
Source Baklava (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Baklava (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHistory
The three main proposals for the original roots of baklava are the Greek placenta cake, the medieval Arabic confection lauzinaj, and the Central Asian Turkic tradition of layered breads.
Etymology
baklava is first attested in English in 1650
History (existing citation)
The three main proposals for the original roots of baklava are the Greek placenta cake, the medieval Arabic confection lauzinaj, and the Central Asian Turkic tradition of layered breads.
History section, Kaygusuz Abdal sentence
The earliest known reference to baklava is in a poem by the 15th century mystic Kaygusuz Abdal.
Etymology (existing citation)
baklava is first attested in English in 1650
Wikipedia infobox, Course field (course, 2nd batch)
Course: Dessert
View the Source Open Questions (1 open question)
Which culinary tradition, Byzantine and Greek, Arabic, or Central Asian Turkic, is baklava's true ancestor?
Food historians propose three competing root traditions for baklava: the Byzantine and Greek placenta cake and koptoplakous, the medieval Arabic confection lauzinaj, and the Central Asian Turkic tradition of layered breads. A recognizably Turkish form is generally placed in the Ottoman court kitchens of Topkapi Palace, but which, if any, of the three earlier traditions is its true ancestor is unsettled.
What would resolve this A securely dated medieval recipe or description linking one of the three candidate traditions unambiguously and exclusively to the layered, syrup-soaked form recognizable as baklava today, or ruling the others out, would settle the question; historians currently weigh three plausible ancestors rather than one confirmed line.
Culinary history / Ottoman and Byzantine studiesBaklava (Wikipedia)
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