Every year, November 17 is celebrated as National Baklava Day, made popular by the United States of America, but has now spread the world over.
Vinayak Patil, chef at the city-based restaurant Butterfly High has taken the liberty to reinterpret the form of the pastry. Traditionally served as a diamond-shaped pastry, the city chef has kept the essence of the sweet dish but transformed it geometrically. They serve the baklava at the restaurant in a long cylindrical shape.
Patil says the baklava is meticulously crafted, layer by layer, ensuring a perfect balance of flaky pastry, rich nuts, and sweet honey. The cylindrical shape not only enhances the presentation but also allows for a delightful play of textures with every bite. The distinctive serving style, says Patil, aims to engage diners visually and adds an element of anticipation as they indulge in the layers of flavour.
With Hurrem's confectionary and cafe, Ahmed Farid, co-founder and promoter, says the intention was to create an authentic and unique experience for consumers, which they were able to achieve by introducing a 100 per cent vegetarian version of baklava, which is originally egg-based.
The confectionery serves over 15 varieties of authentic Turkish Baklavas as part of the menu. Handcrafted by chefs of Turkish origin, some of our bestsellers are Fistik Baklava (Premium Pistachio), Ceviz Baklava (Walnut), Kaju Baklava (Cashew) and the Havuc Dilmi (a long triangular slice of pistachio baklava best enjoyed with ice cream).
Chef Dibyendu Roy, who is the executive chef at Taj Fort Aguada Resort and Spa, says have lots of options that they have offered till now and the black forest and red velvet baklava are the most appreciated. However, Roy says even though they have managed to curate the Baklava menu as per festive season with the likes of chocolate baklava, apart from red velvet baklava, and black forest baklava but he still believes the traditional baklava is always unique and flavour full if it is made in right way.
Roshni Sood, who is the executive chef and menu curator at Poach Kitchen has not made one but two baklava-inspired dishes. While the first one is a creamy Baklava Latte, the other is a delicious Baklava Cheesecake. The Baklava Cheesecake is an innovative take on the classic cheesecake for which we bake the cheesecake in phyllo pastry infused with rose syrup and then top the flaky crust with chopped pistachios, rose and honey. This dessert is served with dates and cream cheese frosting and is one of our best-selling desserts.
The Baklava Latte, on the other hand, is a coffee-based preparation, for which they infuse a freshly brewed coffee with honey and rose and serve it along with a flaky baklava biscuit to dip into the warm coffee.
At Romaania, sous chef Amar Majumder introduced a variation of the classic baklava six months ago as he saw more people showing interest in the dessert. They serve baklava with rose ice cream and honey drizzle. They also prepare the pastry in the authentic way and add rose ice cream to enhance the taste.
Refinery 091, another restaurant in Kolkata, has decided to stick to the basics by serving the Turkish pastry along with some garnish, over the last one year that it has been on the menu.
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