Arabic & Levantine Pantry Guide
What is baklava? Levantine vs Turkish styles, shapes and baking
Baklava (baqlawa in Arabic) is a crisp layered pastry made from paper-thin sheets of filo dough brushed with clarified butter (samna), filled with pistachios, walnuts or cashews and finished with fragrant sugar syrup. In Syrian and Lebanese patisserie, it is prized for its light crunch and restrained sweetness.
How Levantine baklava differs from Turkish baklava
While both styles share thin pastry and nuts, Syrian and Lebanese baklava (especially the tradition of Damascus and Aleppo) has a distinct character: the pieces are smaller and bite-sized, the butter is pure clarified samna, and the sugar syrup is cooked much thicker, scented lightly with orange blossom or rose water and drizzled sparingly. As a result, Levantine baklava stays dry to the touch and delicately crisp for weeks rather than dripping with heavy syrup, letting the flavour of green Aleppo pistachios or roasted cashews shine.
Classic shapes in an assorted box and baking at home
An assorted Arabic sweets tin showcases several traditional shapes: diamond-cut baqlawa, slim rolled "fingers" (asabe), pleated squares packed with whole pistachios called "kol w-shkor" ("eat and give thanks"), triangular warbat and miniature "bird's nests" (osh el-bulbul). When baking a tray at home with fresh baklava filo sheets, brush every sheet lightly with melted ghee, press down the chopped nut filling and slice the entire tray into diamonds with a sharp knife before it goes into the oven.
