baklava a popular Middle Eastern pastry much imitated elsewhere. It is made of many sheets of filo pastry laid flat in a pan, brushed with melted butter and given one or sometimes more layers of a sweetened filling of minced nuts (pistachios, almonds, or walnuts). The whole is soaked in a honey or sugar syrup, often with a little lemon juice. Before baking, the sheet is cut into diamond-shaped fingers. After baking, these are separated into individual pastries.
The origins and earliest history of baklava are discussed under filo.
