By two cooking aficionados who refuse to pick sides*
There are two of us: one from Greece, with family roots in Turkey — Istanbul, Kayseri, and Trabzon; the other from Turkey — Finike, Antalya, Bozcaada, and Istanbul, all places with deep traces of Greek culture and memory. We’re both passionate cooks, both deeply invested in the rituals of the kitchen: selecting ingredients, layering textures, tasting flavours. And yes, we cook many dishes with the same name, though never quite the same way. Baklava is just one of them.
Our baklava debate is simple: walnuts, as in Greece, or Antep fıstığı, the pistachio from southeastern Turkey? Each time we come together, whether to eat or to cook, our words explore time and place, tracing the paths of flavor where Greek and Turkish kitchens echo each other; sometimes in harmony, sometimes in contrast. We always find ourselves comparing dishes and memories: ingredients, methods, seasons, rituals… And sometimes tease each other gently across the counter, spatula in hand. [Read more…] about Kitchen Battles — Baklava