Instructions: Understandably. Theyd made pan after pan of baklava and spanakopita. Theyd rolled up cigar pastries by the bushel. Theyd folded boreks without end. Theyd erected Moroccan bestila pies and invented all sorts of flaky Brie balls and cunning hors doeuvre cups in their quest to take phyllo to the limit.

So when California Cuisine exploded onto the scene in the 80s, phyllo was ungraciously ignored. But foodies had actually gotten nowhere near the end of its possibilities or the many variations of baklava.

It turns out that there are more shapes for this paper-thin pastry than theyd ever tried, and more cooking techniques. You dont have to butter each sheet of dough, for instance; you can get the phyllo to butter itself. These days, you can buy flavored and colored phyllos, which expand the horizons further.

Cooks in the 70s usually drenched their baklava with syrup (or honey, though its not as traditional as syrup).

Theres the familiar baklava cut into diamond shapes, each a plump golden mound shading to tan at the top, and theres "carrot-shaped" baklava, cut in narrow pie wedges about 9 inches long; the different shape means the top bakes up higher and crisper.

Its fascinating to watch a traditional phyllo factory at work. Some workers make dough with a little oil in it, knead it hard and divide it into golf balls.

Then others roll each ball into a circular sheet and stack up a dozen of them, putting plenty of cornstarch between the layers to absorb the moisture that will be forced out of the dough when the stack is rolled.

Then they roll the whole stack several times until the sheets are paper-thin, separating them and dusting them with more cornstarch every time. Phyllo can also be made by stretching the dough on a table or by a combination of rolling and stretching. The process is much easier today but it still involves a lot of cornstarch.

The Middle East has remained loyal to the nut filling, while central Europe has preferred to stuff its strudels with fruit. This may be because only one fruit, the date, is associated with pastry in the Middle East, but its also true that fruit fillings are moist and tend to undermine the hard-won delicate crispness of a perfect baklava.

However, novel fillings are being tried in that part of the world. Necip Erturk (known in Turkey simply as Necip Usta: Master Chef Necip) suggests coconut, candied orange zest, candied cherries and even pineapple preserves. and the availability of chocolate phyllo opens a whole new dimension in baklava. Chocolate with peanuts! Chocolate with coconut! In effect, you could re-create your favorite candy bar wrapped in an ethereal flaky pastry!

In most baklava recipes, the sheets of phyllo separate because they have been buttered before being stacked. This one bakes square phyllo packets with enough melted butter that they are automatically buttered. The result is very rich and easier to make than other individual baklavas.

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