Cairo Cafe - Egyptian Baklava
A few blocks from my house there is an old Victorian style home that had been converted into a tattoo parlor years before I moved to Durango. At the rear of this ancient home was a shed sized building attached to the back. When entering this restaurant it seemed as though it was one building but it wasn’t until I walked through the back door to find more seating when I realized that I just walked into a completely different establishment. Trying to act like I knew what I was doing I asked the tattoo clerk about her job before confidently walking back through the restaurant to find a seat outside.
The restaurant itself was very small and intimate; just a kitchen with a basic flat top grill, sink and dishwasher in the back and out of sight, and a blue hookah sitting on the counter looking ashy as if they use it daily. When it was my turn to order I chose a Greek staple, the traditional gyro with freshly cooked lab meat, perfectly seasoned accompanied by fresh lettuce and tomatoes, authentic feta cheese and a warm, soft pita that was lightly toasted on either side completing the dish perfectly. However as perfect and savory as the gyro was it was the last thing on my mind after seeing their baklava.
Traditional baklava originated in the Ottoman Empire and since the Ottoman’s were a combination of eastern and western cultures it is hard to pin point in what specific country this dish originated in. Although there are multiple ways in which to make this sweet dish, there is only one correct and authentic way to make true baklava: the Albanian way.
The traditional way of making baklava is by making your own dough as opposed to buying pre made sheets of Fillo dough at a super market. Once the dough is made the cook will split it up into small balls, like you were baking cookies. Each ball of dough is carefully rolled out flat on every side until it is basically paper thin. Then each layer of dough is stacked on top of one another layering each sheet with a drizzle of butter making it crispy and giving it that golden brown finish. Once two layers of dough is layered down the cook adds a layer of walnuts, almonds, pecans and a cinnamon sugar mixture to the dough. After the nuts are flat the rest of the layers of dough are added on top and then the cook cuts out the portions before it goes into the oven so as not to mess with the flaky finished product. After the baklava is a nice golden brown you add the finishing touch, the syrup. Traditional syrup is made with sugar, water and lemon juice. Some people add rose water to add extra flavor but is not commonly practiced. Once the syrup is made it is lightly drizzled over the baklava and left to sit for an hour. But at the Cairo Café they do it their own way.
As I described before traditional baklava is made as one large dish all together but the Cairo café makes their baklava in a tube form so that there is less layers to make. Instead of making layers upon layers of dough they simply take one layer of dough, cover it in the nuts and cinnamon, roll it up on a stick, get a second layer of dough and roll it on this stick then slowly pushing either side of the dough together, crimping it together, and then laying it down in a Pyrex dish horizontally. They do this over and over until the pan is full. This makes it easier to cut and distribute after being baked.
After finishing my meal I took a piece of baklava back to my friends Mike, Kyle and Anthony to see what he thought. After taking one bite Mike couldn’t stop licking his fingers, he also told me that he really couldn’t distinguish the flavor.
“Sweet, crunchy, but soft on the inside and a wonderful nutty aroma. It’s different from the baklava I have tried, this one distributed the sweetness a lot better and wasn’t as overwhelming as other versions I have tried.” When I asked Mike where he had tried baklava before he told me that he had only eaten it two other times. Once when he was in Spain and once back home when his Greek friend’s mother would make it.
Kyle took a bite and set it down, I don't think he initially liked the dessert. "Very rich flavor, you can tell whoever made this dish spent a great deal of time perfecting the flavor and getting the layers just right. Cool desert but not my thing."
The last person to try it was Anthony and I was initially hesitant to let him try it only because he has a peanut allergy, luckily these pastries were made with pecans and almonds and not peanuts. Anthony took a bite, "I like how you can see the individual layer of this. Overall this is very sweet especially considering the syrup on top but not so powerful to where I can't finish it."
Once the fall of the Ottoman Empire, these assimilated countries were left to create an identity for themselves; part of that was through food. Although the Albanian’s and Greeks chose to stick with traditions, the Egyptians decided to make a less complicated version of the sweet. This was their version, their unique tradition. Proving that there is no right way to do something, just a different outlook on how to do it and that’s what makes this baklava unique to Egyptians everywhere.