It’s National Baklava Day! And if you’re like us, after you get through the roughly 15 pounds of gyro meat that always comes with a quality gyro, you’ve barely got enough room left for one of our favorite desserts.
So today we skipped the gyro and went straight for the sweet stuff, sampling baklava from Olde Village Grille in Penn Hills, Leena’s Food in Murrysville, DeLallo’s in Jeannette and the new Sittay’s Mediterranean Kitchen in Greensburg.
The origin of baklava is in some dispute, but similar recipes have been found dating all the way back to 9th century Persia. Its roots may lie in an ancient Roman recipe for something called placenta cake, made by alternating thin pastry sheets with layers of honey and cheese. Then again, some historians believe “placenta” is derived from the ancient Greek “plakous,” meaning “thin, layered, flat-breads.”
Regardless, today it can be found in Turkish, Greek, Lebanese and other Mediterranean cuisine. The delicate combination of nuts, spices, honey and layer upon layer of crispy phyllo dough is always worth the extra napkins.
What was our favorite? Find out!
What would you like to see the TribLive Taste Test squad try? We got one on the way that, well… it’s not gonna be for the squeamish.
Send your suggestions to pvarine@triblive.com.
