Baklava is a nut-rich sweet that the Greeks have claimed. It goes back millennia to ancient Egypt.
Today its rich, savoury nut-and-syrup mix is layered between sheets of filo pastry. I doubt the ancient Egyptians had mastered that particular art, so for authenticity I began making them with home-made oatcakes. Alternatively, you could layer them between water biscuits or Bath Olivers.
The recipe I use originates with the king of raw food, Juliano Brotman. Brotman makes his own oatcakes which I recommend, but for simplicity you can substitute shop-bought if you can find them thin enough and/or with added sweetness.
You will need:
Those oatcakes or water biscuits
12 dates soaked for two hours
2 cups of pecan nuts roughly crushed
1 cup each of almonds, walnuts and
pistachios, also roughly crushed
A few broken walnuts for garnish
Method: First drain the dates and combine with the pecan nuts in a blender. Make a semi-smooth paste. Now take the almonds, walnuts and pistachios and blitz once or twice in a blender to give a coarse texture (you have to do them separately).
If you are using an oatcake, put down a layer of pecan and date mix, add a layer of ground nuts, and a further layer of pecan and date, and nut. Top off with a walnut for garnish. If you're using water biscuits, use a biscuit per layer.
Next week: Cooking and eating with children.
Haydn Shaughnessy blogs on food and health at www.thedietcast.com