Fıstıklı Baklava

Gaziantep-style pistachio baklava layered in clarified butter and soaked in light sugar syrup

Origin: Gaziantep (Antep), Turkey

From the journey of Pistachio.

There is baklava, and then there is Antep baklava. Gaziantep (historically Antep), a city in southeastern Turkey close to the Syrian border, is designated by UNESCO as a City of Gastronomy largely on the strength of its pistachio baklava: a preparation so singular in its technique, its ingredients, and its standard of craft that baklava makers of Gaziantep consider themselves a distinct profession, their method a jealously protected regional tradition passed from master to apprentice across generations. What distinguishes Antep baklava from every other regional variety is not complexity but purity. The filling is raw, unroasted, finely ground pistachios from the local Uzun cultivar: a small, intensely green nut with a clean, grassy sweetness that needs no sugar mixed into it. The pastry is yufka — paper-thin handmade sheets of flour and water — not the commercial filo of mass production, but sheets stretched over a wide wooden surface (oklava) until they are translucent enough to read text through. The fat is clarified butter (sade yağ), used generously and at the correct temperature. The syrup is a simple syrup of sugar and water with a few drops of lemon juice: light and clear, not honey-thickened, absorbed into the layers without making them sticky. Baklava made this way does not keep for weeks: it should be eaten the day it is made or the day after. Antep baklava masters insist on this. The pistachio filling is always visible through the top layer of pastry, giving the finished tray its characteristic green cast. When the Turks refer to the colour 'fıstık yeşili' (pistachio green), they mean specifically this: the colour of Antep pistachios through the golden pastry.

Ingredients

Filling

  • 250 g raw shelled pistachios, blitzed to a coarse crumb (not powder)

Pastry

  • 400 g filo pastry sheets (as thin as possible; 40 cm x 30 cm), or homemade yufka

Fat

  • 200 g clarified butter (ghee), melted and kept warm

Syrup

  • 300 g caster sugar
  • 200 ml water
  • 1 tsp lemon juice

Method

  1. Make the syrup first: combine the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then simmer for 8 to 10 minutes until slightly reduced but still pourable. Cool completely. The syrup must be cold when it meets the hot baklava.
  2. Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan 160°C). Brush a 30 cm x 20 cm baking tray generously with clarified butter.
  3. Trim the filo sheets to fit the tray. Layer half the sheets (approximately 20 sheets) into the tray, brushing every single sheet generously with clarified butter before laying down the next.
  4. Spread the ground pistachios in an even, generous layer over the buttered filo base. Do not mix the pistachios with sugar: in the Gaziantep tradition, the filling is pure nut.
  5. Layer the remaining filo sheets on top, again brushing every sheet with clarified butter. Pour any remaining butter over the top sheet and spread evenly.
  6. Using a very sharp knife, cut the baklava into diamond shapes. First make parallel diagonal cuts at roughly 4 cm intervals across the tray, then cross with parallel cuts in the other direction to make lozenges. Cut all the way through to the base.
  7. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the top is uniformly golden and the edges are just beginning to colour. Remove from the oven.
  8. Immediately pour the cold syrup slowly and evenly over the entire surface of the hot baklava. Let it absorb for 30 minutes before serving.

Notes

Antep baklava is best eaten on the day it is made. Store uncovered at room temperature (not in the refrigerator, which makes the pastry soggy) for up to two days. The classic Gaziantep portion is a single diamond, served on a small plate with a glass of strong black tea. Unsalted pistachios produce a cleaner flavour; if your pistachios are lightly salted, the contrast is pleasant but less traditional.

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