Istanbul, Turkey - Baklava

Certainly one of the highlights of the trip to Turkey was visiting the birthplace of that wonderful buttery honey dessert Baklava.  











I was amazed to see all of the different kinds ranging from towers of beautiful pistachio stuffed log shaped baklava to pistachio green colored baklava to flat bar-shaped baklava.  And I set out to try them all!











 Some come with walnuts, hazelnuts, and even almonds.  You are out of luck when it comes to baklava if you have a nut allergy.  Some come shaped kind of like croissants - these were the messiest to eat. 

Some even come paired with Pomegranate flavored Turkish Delight.

We went to a patisserie that is famous for its baklava.  They have an entire menu full of the different types.

Tony and I tried two types of Baklava that we'd never seen before.  One was the log type filled with pistachio nuts, and the other was a pistachio-filled baklava with ground pistachios used in the filo dough.

 After a busy day of site seeing, the quick sugar-boost provided by the baklava, and the quick caffeine lift from the Turkish Coffee was much needed. 

In the end after much taste testing and deliberation, my ultimate baklava was the pistachio cream baklava.  It had just the right combination of gooeyness and nutiness for me.  Delicious and they go surprisingly well with ice cream.  Who would have thought. 

For the flight home, I smuggled out four baklava.  They helped make the 3 hour flight back to the UK livable.

Thankfully, we don't live too far from an area of London which is unofficially known as little Little Turkey, so finding good baklava will not be a problem.