Antep baklava: pistachios, butter and thin layers

Antep baklava, also sold as Gaziantep baklava, is a pastry of thin dough layers filled with Antep pistachios and soaked in syrup. The fresh version also has a layer of semolina cream. The dry version, sold as kuru, has no cream. The top is golden and semi-crisp, and the lower part is dark green and syrupy.

Ingredients

Antep pistachios are compulsory under the product's registered specification. They give the lower layer its green colour and much of the aroma. The pistachios start to ripen in August. Bakers use them coarse or finely chopped.

The dough is hard-wheat flour, eggs, rock salt and water. The fat is butter made from milk, at least 99.9 percent pure, with no salt or additives. The syrup is made from sugar; honey and glucose are not allowed. For the cream, semolina is stirred into boiling milk and cooked until thick.

How it is made

Bakers roll small pieces of dough very thin, using local techniques called tekleme and çiftleme. Wheat starch is sprinkled between the sheets. A stack of 35 to 40 sheets should be only 2.5 to 3 cm thick.

In a greased tray, bakers lay several sheets, spread the cream and cover it fully with pistachios. Another 15 to 20 single sheets go on top. The baklava is cut before baking into squares, diamonds, triangles or long havuç dilimi wedges. Hot melted butter is poured over, the tray is baked, and hot syrup is poured into the hot tray.

Origin and protected status

In Gaziantep, baklava is offered to guests. It is part of weddings, engagements, circumcision ceremonies, religious holidays and condolence visits. Several local families have made it since the 1870s and passed the craft down the generations.

The Gaziantep Chamber of Industry applied for EU protection in 2009. In 2013 the EU registered Antep Baklavası / Gaziantep Baklavası as a protected geographical indication (PGI). It was the first Turkish product to receive this EU status. Gaziantep joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in 2015.

Where to try it

Baklava shops are found across Gaziantep, from well-known producers to small boutique bakeries. The city's Baklava Museum shows how the pastry is made, and the Pistachio Museum follows the nut from tree to table. Baklava is often eaten with kaymak, a thick clotted cream.

If you want to combine baklava with other shopping, the city's historic markets include the Bakırcılar Bazaar, Zincirli Bedesten and Kemikli Bedesten.