Phyllo, pistachios, cinnamon and honey syrup — Greece's most celebrated sweet. Athens and Thessaloniki have been arguing about the correct version since before you arrived.
About Baklava
Greece's most celebrated sweet — dozens of paper-thin phyllo layers alternating with crushed walnuts and pistachios perfumed with cinnamon and clove, baked golden then flooded with a honey-lemon syrup that soaks into every layer; the Thessaloniki and Athens debate over which city makes the superior version is ongoing and unresolved.
Phyllo, crushed walnuts and pistachios perfumed with cinnamon and clove, baked until golden then flooded with a honey-lemon syrup while still hot from the oven. The syrup soaks into every layer. The phyllo crackles on top and is soft at the base — the contrast between the two textures is the point.
“Phyllo, crushed walnuts and pistachios perfumed with cinnamon and clove, baked until golden then flooded with a honey-lemon syrup while still hot from the oven.”
Thessaloniki insists its baklava (more pistachio, lighter syrup) is superior to Athenian baklava (more walnut, heavier honey). The debate is ongoing and productive — it has produced excellent baklava in both cities.
