Micina baklava / Mica's Baklava

Dragi Turci, nemojte da se ljutite što ću vam oskrnaviti nacionalni kolač. Ovo u stvari, uopšte nije baklava, ovo je balkansko kopile koje ste ostavili za sobom nakon 400 i kusur godina (Srbi će reći "krvave!") otomanske vladavine. Dobro, Kraljević Marko vam se zamerio, i meni bi da sam na vašem mestu. Nije da ste nam ostali dužni. Ali nije sve bilo zulum i harač. Bilo je sa vama i lepih trenutaka. Pogotovo u kuhinji!



Toliko dugo smo se mešali da se više ne zna šta je vaše, a šta naše. Recimo, burek. Ili kao što vi kažete, börek. Ono što u Bosni zovu burek je u Srbiji savijena pita s mesom. Ono što u Srbiji zovu burek bi i u Turskoj i u Bosni bilo svetogrđe jer je prepuno svinjske masti. Ali šta? Taj srpski burek oblikom daleko više podseća na izvorni turski burek (koji se takođe puni i mesom, i sirom, i spanaćem) nego na bosanskog "puža"! Tako da se tu odavno više ne zna ko pije a ko plaća.

Ako smo mogli u burek da stavimo mast, možemo i u baklavu da stavimo jaja. Možda je to bila neka vrsta rajinog bunta? Prvi srpski kulinarski ustanak? Ne znam, ali znam koliko može da boli kada ti neko otme tradiciju i napravi je svojom. Dovoljno sam se po Nemačkoj nagledala ćevapčića koji se serviraju uz grašak i pirinač. Kad im kažem, ljudi, ne može to tako, uz ćevape - ili lukac, ili kajmak, gledaju me kao da sam pala s Marsa. Dobro nisu stavili krompir-salatu.

Sve ovo pišem da bih preduhitrila dušebrižnike koji će se već naći pozvani da mi otvore oči i obaveste me da se ovako ne pravi baklava. Znam kako se pravi baklava, i tako "kako treba" je uglavnom i ja pravim. Ali ne danas. Ovo nije turska baklava, iako je napravljena od pravih turskih kora, kao što slika svedoči. Mnogo štošta je drugačije u odnosu na autentični recept. Između ostalog i jaja. Inače, u opisu baklave na Vikipediji, postavljena je kao neproverena pretpostavka da se na Balkanu baklava pravi s jajima (u zagradi piše "dispute - discuss"). E, pa evo im dokaza da je zaista tako...

• 500 g što tanjih kora za pitu*


• 3 jajeta


• 120 g griza


• 120 g šećera


• 1 kašičica ekstrakta vanile (može a ne mora)


• 125 g masla**


• 400 g seckanih oraha


• 50 g suvog grožđa ili brusnica, ili i jednog i drugog

Za preliv:

• 500 g šećera


• 500 ml vode


• 50 ml limunovog soka

*Za ovo se isplati zaobići one "unverzalke" iz samoposluge i otići kod koradžije po tanke kore. Za razliku od slanih pita, ne valja sam razvijati kore za baklavu jer vam sigurno neće ispasti kako treba. Moraju da budu kao flis papir i suve.

**Znam da u Srbiji u maloprodaji nema masla. Naravno da baklavu možete napraviti i sa uljem. Ipak, ona prava istočnjačka baklava se pravi s maslom. To je masnoća izrazito bogate arome i mirisa koja baklavi dodaje svoju notu. Ulje je neutralno i ako budete njega koristili, dominiraće samo ukus oraha i suvog grožđa. Maslo možete da napravite i sami: istopite paklicu putera, pa kada bude tečan procedite ga kroz veoma gustu cediljku ili gazu. Zlatnožuta masnoća koju dobijete može da podnese mnogo veće temperature prženja od putera, a možete da je čuvate u frižideru do mesec dana.

Uvek počinjem da pravim baklavu tako što prebrojim kore. Ako ima dvadeset kora, podelim ih na četiri, a fil i orahe na tri, pa onda ređam pet kora, red testa s jajima, red oraha, pa opet pet kora, ne zaboravljajući da svaku koru četkicom premažem istopljenim maslom. Čini vam se da u pola kile kora ne može biti dvadeset listova? U ovom pakovanju je bilo dvadeset pet, pogledajte kako su tanki!

Preciznim deljenjem kora i fila dobićete ravnomerno raspoređen nadev. Istopite maslo, naseckajte orahe, odvojte belanca od žumanaca. Belanca s prstohvatom soli ulupajte u čvrst sneg, a žumanca umutite sa šećerom, kasnije dodajući griz. Na kraju kašikom sjedinite dve mase i umešajte suvo grožđe.

Ređajte baklavu. Za one koji je ranije nisu pravili, niže (u tekstu na engleskom) mogu da vide dijagram kako se baklava ređa. Važno je da svaki list bude ovlaš premazan masnoćom, kako se ne bi zalepili jedan za drugi. Nakon što je baklava složena, isecite je u obliku po želji (nije neophodno da rezovi budu sasvim temeljni - važno je da kroz njih preliv može da se upije u kolač; kad bude gotova, moraćete ponovo da je isečete).

Stavite baklavu da se peče 30 minuta na 180 stepeni C. U toku poslednjih deset minuta pečenja, skuvajte preliv.

Kada je reč o zalivanju baklave, lome se koplja. Svako to radi na svoj način. Neko zaliva hladnu baklavu vrućim sirupom, neko hladnim sirupom vruću baklavu. Ja zalivam vruće vrućim, da sve cvrči. I ne samo to, nego je onda vratim na pet minuta u rernu da se dodatno ukuva u tom saftu. Tako dobijete veoma mekanu i sočnu baklavu, a ja takvu najviše volim.

Uobičajen recept za preliv je da šećer i voda budu u odnosu 2:1, to jest da vam za 500 g kora i 500 g oraha treba 500 g šećera otopljenih u 250 ml vode. Ova naša baklava, međutim, zahteva ređi preliv. Kao prvo, kore i orasi nisu jedini sastojci, masa kolača je veća. Kao drugo, to testo s grizom kojim se baklava filuje, neverovatno upija sirup. Ako Micinu baklavu zalijete sirupom za klasičnu baklavu, dobićete nešto što liči na tzv. suvu pitu, omiljenu na menijima svih beogradskih restorana domaće kuhinje. Ne volim da mi baklava pliva u sirupu, ali ne volim ni da je sasvim suva. Zbog toga je potrebno skuvati daleko ređi sirup, u odnosu voda - šećer 1:1. I ne zaboravite da dodate limunov sok na kraju kuvanja!

Kao što rekoh, vratite je u rernu na pet minuta (rernu možete i da isključite) i pustite da se sasvim ohladi pre nego što je isečete i smažete.

Šta sam promenila: Osim odnosa vode i šećera u prelivu, smanjila sam količinu suvog grožđa i pomešala ga sa suvim brusnicama. Ne volim da mi grožđe dominira u baklavi, lepše mi je da tu i tamo natrčim na po neko zrno. Takođe, koristila sam seckane orahe da baklava bude hruskavija, iako inače koristim mlevene.

Presuda: Svima nam se veoma dopala, čak i Uni, koja se udostoji da proba svaki peti kolač koji napravim. Micina baklava me je podsetila na onu pitu s višnjama koju su blogerke jele na okupljanju na Adi. Recept je veoma sličan, ali mi se čini da je taj princip u varijanti baklava bolji jer kolač koji dobijete na kraju nije tako suv. U svakom slučaju, drugačija, lepa. Pravi recept za nekog ko ne voli klasičnu baklavu jer mu je njen ukus suviše intenzivan.

Mica's Baklava



As I wrote earlier, speaking about Gerbaud cake and the Austro-Hungarian influence in the Balkans, our cuisine is all about crossover. The Turks ruled the Balkans for over 400 years. When they left in the early 19th century, they left a significant cultural heritage behind - most of all religious, linguistic, musical and culinary.

There are hundreds of Turkish dishes that we love and consider our own. Sarma, burek, đuveč, ajvar, pilav, ćevapi, ćufte, šašljik, meze - are just some of the savoury dishes that came with the Turks and still bear their Turkish names in the south-Slavic languages. Just as beloved are the Turkish desserts, and baklava most of all.

There are many ways of making a baklava - it is a very popular dessert throughout the Levant. The Lebanese make it with chopped pistachios in one thick green layer sandwiched between two crusts of layered phyllo pastry. There is also the Egyptian baklava - not layered and cut in pieces, but rolled in individual triangle shapes. Regardless of the variety, there are three things that all baklavas have in common: the nuts, the phyllo and the sugar.

In all countries of former Yugoslavia, baklava is made with walnuts. And more often than not, the walnuts are ground, rather than chopped. The traditional recipe for a common baklava requires the ingredients to stand in 1:1:1 ratio. For 500 g of phyllo pastry, you need 500 g ground walnuts and 500 g sugar. Most people use plain sunflower oil to grease the phyllo pastry, which makes baklava a perfect desert for periods of fasting - it is strictly vegan. Once the baklava is layered and baked, it needs to be drenched in sugar syurp made of two parts sugar and one part water. Done!

It is very easy to make, but also very Oriental and sweet. Due to its sweetness, most of my friends from Western Europe won't even give baklava a chance. And truth be told, it was a bit too exotic even for the Slavs. I am going to present you a more European variety of baklava, a certain bastard baklava, if you like. In my grandmother's recipe book it is called Mica's baklava, which is a very appropriate name for this crossover desert, Mica /'mi:tsa/ being the most common Serbian nickname for almost all female names beginning with an "M"; therefore, a very Serbian variety of a very Turkish dessert!

In the Wikipedia article on Baklava, under "Local varieties", the supposition that the Balkan variety of baklava is sometimes made with eggs is marked with tag "dubious - discuss". Well, here's proof that this is, indeed, the case. For Mica's baklava, you'll need:

• 500 g / 17.5 oz phyllo pastry*


• 3 eggs


• 120 g / 4.2 oz semolina


• 120 g / 4.2 oz sugar


• 1 ts vanilla extract


• 125 g / 1 stick clarified butter**


• 400 g / 3 cups / 14 oz chopped walnuts


• 50 g / ¼ cup raisins or dried cranberries, or both

for the syrup:

• 500 g / 17.5 oz sugar


• 1 pint / 2 cups cold water


• 50 ml / 3 Tbsp lemon juice

* Phyllo pastry needs to be of the thinnest variety you can buy. Do not attempt to make the phyllo yourself - while this may work for savoury pies, and even improve them, the professional product is a must for baklava. The layers must be paper thin and dry.

** Obviously, you can use vegetable oil instead of butter. In case you go for butter, your baklava will taste better with clarified butter instead of the regular variety. The original oriental baklava also requires clarified butter. This fat has an intensive taste and fragrance, it is very rich and adds its own flavour to the cake, whereas vegetable oil is neutral and allows walnuts to carry the primary aroma. If you can't get clarified butter in the shop, you can make your own by melting common unsalted butter and draining it through a very dense sieve or a piece of gauze.



Before you begin, make sure that the size of phyllo pastry sheets roughly fits the size of your baking tin. Melt the butter and chop the walnuts (this time I went for chopped instead of ground walnuts to give my baklava extra crunch, but with ground walnuts it tastes just as good). I used raisins as well as cranberries, but according to the original recipe, only raisins should be used, and in a greater amount (100 g). I do like raisins, but they do have a very strong flavour and they shouldn't dominate in a baklava. More often than not, I make my baklava without raisins, but if I add some, I go for the "less is more" principle.

Make an egg batter by mixing egg yolks with the sugar and vanilla extract until pale yellow and thick. Add semolina, which will make the mixture even thicker. Separately beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture and add the raisins. Set aside.

Unpack the phyllo and count the sheets. This is a very important step because you need to know in how many parts your walnuts and batter need to be divided. For instance, if you have 20 sheets of phyllo, divide them in four groups of five sheets and your batter and wallnuts in three equal parts. Layer the baklava according to our diagram. Start by greasing the form, then add (step one) a layer of phyllo, (step two) using a brush, spread clarified butter on top of the phyllo sheet, add another sheet, grease it, and so on until you've spent all five sheets of the first group. The important thing is that there is a layer of butter between each sheet - this stops the sheets being glued together and you want your baklava fluffy and crisp, not just blocks of dough and walnuts.



Spread the batter on top of the fifth phyllo layer, sprinkle walnuts on top of the batter and cover with another sheet of phyllo. Repeat the procedure from step one. Keep layering your baklava until pastry and filling is spent. You need to finish with layers of greased phyllo and spread the last of the butter on top.

Pre-heat the oven to 180º C (350º F). Cut baklava in slices - either in squares or in diamonds, which is a more traditional shape. You don't need to make sure the cake is perfectly cut - the cuts will allow the syrup to soak into the cake, but you will need to cut the baklava again before serving anyway. Bake for 30 minutes.

Make the syrup during the last 10 minutes of the baking. Mix sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. The sugar will melt and you will get a clear, runny sugar syrup. Add the lemon juice and take off the stove. Take the baklava out of the oven and pour the syrup over the cake (it will sizzle a little). Some people prefer to pour cold syrup over hot baklava, or hot syrup over cold baklava - I always pour hot on hot and return the cake into the oven for another five minutes. This way, baklava stews in its syrup for a while longer. In my experience, this results in a very soft and moist cake, which is just the way I like it. And you'll love it!