PAKHLAVA: NO MATTER HOW YOU SPELL IT, THIS DESSERT IS LAYERED IN TRADITION
By Suzanne Boyle
Belleville News Democrat
Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010
The basement of Ss. Cyril and Methody Eastern Orthodox Church was
bustling on a recent Sunday afternoon in Granite City.
Father Andrew Moulton sat at a table with Vicki Siers and a young
parishioner. Norma Asadorian stood near the back and watched as
visitors signed in and took seats.
"Please, help yourself," Norma said, pointing out the dessert table
in a corner. There was water and coffee, too.
"We’d hoped to have three generations here," said Norma of the baking
demonstration the Lincoln Place Heritage Association held at the
Macedonian church. Unfortunately, the star, Annid Nighohossian, 87,
wasn’t able to make it.
Instead, the two younger generations, sons, Greg and Leo Nighohossian,
and granddaughter, Julie Nighohossian, set out baking ingredients
and equipment on a long row of tables set up on coffee cans at the
front of the fellowship hall.
They would demonstrate how to make pakhlava, the Armenian name for
the flaky phyllo dough dessert with a sweet nutty filling.
Most bakers and dessert lovers know it by its the Greek name, baklava.
"The only difference I know is that we make it with sugar water and
the Greeks make it with honey," said Julie.
Greg was 5 when he first started helping his mother.
"That was 52 years ago and she taught me everything," he said.
Greg and Leo said they can picture their mother and her friends in
the kitchen rolling out paper-thin sheets of dough by hand.
"Back then, she was making phyllo dough," Greg said."It took all day."
"It was so labor intensive," Leo added. While it was a social event
when the ladies got together to bake, making pakhlava required several
sets of hands.
Nowadays, most home bakers use store-bought frozen dough, cutting
down considerably on the expertise and time required.
Still, it took the trio more than an hour to separate and layer 20
sheets of phyllo into a pan, each one carefully buttered, with the
filling added halfway into the process.
"Two people can do it more easily," said Julie. "One to pull (the
sheets) apart and the other to lay them in the pan and butter."
About 20 food lovers showed up for the class, a good turnout, said
Norma, who is president of the association that was founded in 2001.
Lincoln Place is a historic ethnic neighborhood in Granite City that
sprung up in the early 1900s near the big steel mills and factories.
"It started out being called ‘Hungry Hollow’ because of the Hungarians
who lived there," said Vicky. Armenians, Bulgarians, Croatians
and Macedonians followed, looking for work, relief from religious
oppression and a stable and safe place to raise a family.
"They all got along quite well," she added. In 1916, the name was
officially changed to Lincoln Place, to honor President Lincoln,
who represented opportunity and freedom to these immigrants.
In a neighborhood just four blocks by six blocks, where everyone
walked to work, school, the store and church, residents shared many
customs, including making pakhlava, said Norma, who is Armenian. Like
the Nighohossians, she grew up there. So did Vicki, whose father was
Macedonian and Bulgarian, while her mother was Hungarian.
"We didn’t stray far," Norma said.
Julie, who lives in Edwardsville, said the tradition of making pakhlava
continues for more reasons than just that the dessert is delicious.
"People are helping each other, but it’s a social event, too. It’s
a reason to gather around the table."
Here is the recipe made by the Nighohossians.
Pakhlava
1 package frozen phyllo dough (there are two in a box), thawed*
1 pound unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 pounds walnuts, finely chopped
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar, to taste
Sugar water mixture:
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine sugar and walnuts; set aside.
Brush butter on bottom of jelly-roll or other baking pan with a lip.
Separate and count out phyllo sheets from one package. Set aside half
of the sheets, puting them under a damp kitchen towel, including the
most intact dough sheet (not torn or tattered) that will be used as
the final top sheet on the pakhlava.
Place one sheet in pan and baste with butter. Repeat until about 10
layers, or half the package is gone.
Do not sprinkle top layer when you reach halfway mark.
Spread walnuts with sugar evenly over entire surface of top phyllo
sheet.
Retrieve other half of phyllo sheets and begin process again: Lay down
a sheet on top of walnut mixture and butter. Repeat until last layer —
this should be the best-looking one — is placed on top. Do not butter.
Cut with a sharp knife into diamond shapes. To do this, make four or
five straight cuts lengthwise. Then, make diagonal cuts crosswise.
After cutting, use remaining melted butter to cover top layer of dough.
Bake 20 to 45 minutes, depending on oven. Pakhlava is done when
golden brown.
Let stand and cool 20 to 30 minutes; recut.
Meanwhile, make sugar water by boiling ingredients until syrup.
(Mixture should bead up on a fingernail.)
When completely cool, pour sugar water over top, to taste.
*The Ziyad brand of frozen phyllo dough is recommended. The sheets
are bigger, don’t stick together and aren’t as likely to tear. You
can buy it at Global Market of Jay’s International in St. Louis.
Other brands sold at local supermarkets will work, too, but you may
need to be extra careful when separating the smaller sheets.