To create the perfect moist-bottom, crisp-top baklava, we had to nail every step.
Each batch starts with 100 sheets of phyllo dough hand-rolled daily in Gaziantep, Turkey (the famed home of the world's best baklava). Made with ultrafine-milled Turkish flour, the dough is strong enough to not break even when rolled to see-through thinness.
The rolled dough is then filled exclusively with Antep Turkish Pistachios. The world's sweetest and greenest pistachios, the Anteps add unmistakable freshness and complexity to the baklava.
Within hours, the now assembled baklava is flown in to Paterson, New Jersey. There, on Paterson's hallowed "baklava alley", the baklava is glazed and soaked in honey and syrup — ready to be shipped to you.
Gaziantep, Turkey, is renowned for crafting the world's finest baklava, a tradition steeped in history. This is such an open secret that even most locals and connoisseurs across Turkey prefer their baklava flown in from Gaziantep.
This quality is a product of tradition, geography, and unrelenting precision. In Gaziantep, ultra-fine milled flour creates whisper-thin phyllo sheets. Our artisan layers over 100 of these delicate sheets in each batch, brushes each layer with syrup, and fills them with a substantial helping of the region's iconic Antep pistachios — famously the greenest, sweetest, and hardest to open pistachios in the world.
Our Gaziantep artisan's baklava is not just a dessert; it's a celebrated piece of culinary art and science.
Our baklava is filled exclusively with the much-sought-after Antep pistachios — with no other nut or pistachio variety to muddy the flavor.
Known for their vibrant green hue, exceptional sweetness, and the effort it takes to crack them open, the Anteps are used generously, infusing our baklava with considerable complexity, a noticeable freshness and depth of flavor, making each bite a luxurious experience.
Flown daily from Gaziantep to Paterson's renowned Baklava Alley, our baklava undergoes a unique journey. In New Jersey, it's meticulously hand-glazed with honey-sugar syrup, a process exclusive to The Essential. This labor-intensive method ensures a crispy top and moist bottom, enhancing the delicacy's texture and taste to deliver an unparalleled culinary masterpiece.
