
The tan-coloured walnut is the common walnut of Europe, introduced by the Persians into ancient Greece. Ancient Romans brought it to the rest of Europe.
The Persian walnut (now also known as the English and the Italian walnut) has a high oil content, and is used as a salad dressing because of its pungent nutty flavour.
It is also high in vitamin B6 and ion with a high protein content.
Walnuts featured heavily in the traditional foods of ancient eastern Mediterranean civilisations, from the Aegeans and Phoenicians to the Greeks and Scythians, but it was the Ottoman Turks who introduced walnut cookery to Europe, evidenced today by the amount of walnut pastries baked daily from the Balkans to the Caucasus and from the Iberian peninsula to the Swiss alps.
Pakhlava
TURKEY
The sweet walnut pastries eaten throughout the Balkans, the Caucasus, Greece and Turkey are older than the hills.
Cut into exquisite diamonds or shaped into delightful parcels they are still thought of as the food of the gods, just as they were 3000 years ago when the Assyrians decided to coat their flatbreads with date molasses and crushed walnuts.
The layered pastries we know today as baklava were refined over centuries of improvisation.
Pistachio rivalled the walnut, sugar syrup replaced date molasses and honey seduced those who believed it was an aphrodisiac.
This is the original, made by the Assyrians eons ago.
- 500 g chapati flour
- 250 ml mineral water
- 250 g date molasses / Basra date syrup
- 250 g walnuts, crushed, chopped
- 50 ml water
Make a firm dough with the flour and mineral water. Shape into small balls, roll each one on a floured surface to the size of a tea-plate, 20 cm diameter.
Put a flat iron pan on a high heat for five minutes. Adjust heat, place a disk on the pan, cook for two minutes, flip over and give the other side two minutes. Repeat until all the dough is used up.
Dilute date molasses / syrup in water if necessary.
Spread each disk with a thin layer of molasses, sprinkle with walnuts, roll tightly into a cylinder, and smear molasses over the top. Finish with walnut dust.
Pakhlava
ARMENIA AZERBAIJAN GEORGIA RUSSIA UKRAINE
In Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Crimea, Georgia, Russia and the Ukraine, walnut pakhlava is a sweet multi-layered pastry.
Dough
- 500 g pastry flour
- 150 ml milk, lukewarm
- 150 ml sour cream
- 2 eggs
- 50 g butter
- 15 g yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- Salt, pinch
Filling
- 250 g butter
- 250 g icing sugar
- 250 g walnuts, crushed, chopped
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 vanilla pod, deseeded
- Cardamom, large pinch
Topping
- 1 egg, beaten
- Walnut halves
Syrup
- 150 g honey
- 100 ml water
Dissolve yeast in milk and sugar.
Sieve flour into a large bowl. Mix in butter, eggs, sour cream, salt and yeast liquid.
Form into a dough on a floured surface, knead for 10 minutes. Leave forban hour.
Put the walnuts into a bowl, mix with sugar and vanilla, then cardamom and cinnamon.
Grease a large deep rectangular baking tray.
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Cut dough into 13 pieces, form two pieces into one ball.
Roll the large ball out to cover the surface area of the tray and each of the four sides. The dough should be thin, no thicker than 1 mm.
Using the rolling pin, fold the thin sheet over the tray, push down into the corners, leave an overlap.
Melt the butter and brush the dough.
Roll a ball of dough to the size of the surface area of the tray, and, using the rolling pin, lay it on the bottom sheet. Brush with butter and sprinkle the walnut mixture over it.
Repeat with remaining balls.
Bring the sides of the bottom sheet over to enclose the layers. Brush with butter, sealing the edges with the egg.
Brush the top with the egg and cut squares, stopping the knife before the bottom layer. Press one walnut half into each square.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Make honey syrup, remove tray from oven, and brush top with butter. Spoon some of the syrup over the top, allow it to seep into cracks between the squares.
Put back in the oven until it takes on a reddish colour.
Allow to cool, remove from tray and cut into squares.
Dip each square into honey syrup. Give each side of the square three seconds to absorb the syrup.
Leave to cool.
Kadaif / Kadayif
BALKANS
In the Balkans they are faithful to the Ottoman tradition of using shredded filo pastry dough, using margarine instead of butter.
- 1.5 kg sugar
- 1.5 litres water
- 750 g tel kadayif (wire pastry dough)
- 360 g margarine / butter
- 300 g honey
- 150 g walnuts, crushed, chopped
- 50 g vanilla sugar
- 1 lemon, juice
Flake kadayif over a large rectangular baking tray, sprinkle walnuts on top, then another layer of kadayif, finally the margarine or butter.
Bake at 160°C for 35 minutes, until golden.
Cover and cool.
Dissolve sugar in water, bring to the boil, simmer until the liquid forms into a light syrup.
Heat honey, vanilla sugar and lemon juice.
Pour syrup evenly over the pastry.
Cut into squares.
Dip each square into honey liquid.
In Sarajevo, tradition calls for the kadaif to be served with olives and radishes.
Kataïfi
GREECE
The Greek version.
- 1.5 kg sugar
- 1.5 ml water
- 750 g filo pastry sheets
- 375 g walnuts, ground
- 350 g butter
- 30 g breadcrumbs, toasted
- 15 g cinnamon
- 1 lemon, juice
- 1 vanilla pod, deseeded
Preheat oven to 160°C.
Combine breadcrumbs, cinnamon and walnuts.
Grease baking tray.
Lay a sheet of pastry on a damp linen towel, cover with one tablespoon of walnut mixture, roll into a sausage shape and place in tray. Repeat until pastry and filling are used up.
Heat butter, drizzle one tablespoon on each sausage.
Bake for 40 minutes, until golden.
Allow to cool.
Dissolve sugar in water, bring to the boil, simmer until the liquid forms into a light syrup.
Add lemon juice and vanilla.
Pour syrup over sausages.
Cevizli Çörek
TURKEY
These walnut parcels from Turkey evolved out of a desire to produce a simple variation of the walnut baklava.
- 1 kg pastry flour
- 500 g walnuts, ground
- 200 g butter
- 20 g yeast
- 15 ml milk, lukewarm
- 15 g sugar
Disssolve yeast in milk and sugar.
Sieve flour into a large bowl, incorporate butter and yeast mixture.
Form into a dough on a floured surface, knead for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 200°C.
Roll dough out and cut into 4cm diameter rounds, 5mm thick.
Spoon some walnut into centre of each round. Fold into a parcel.
Place each pacel on a greased baking tray.
Bake at 160°C for 45 minutes, until the crusts are golden.
Harire
TURKEY SYRIA
A modern Assyrian interpretation, albeit not a pastry. That’s evolution for you.
- 1.2 litres water
- 250 g flour
- 250 g grape molasses
- 250 g sugar
- 250 g walnuts
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cloves
- 1 tsp ginger
Blend flour, molasses, sugar and water. Boil on low heat until the mixture reaches a thick consistency. Stir in spices, pour into bowls and garnish with chopped walnuts.
TRADITIONAL WALNUT DISHES
Ajika აკაკა GEORGIA
spicy walnut sauce
Aşure TURKEY Noah’s Pudding
wheat pudding with various ingredients including walnuts
Basler Walnussbrot SWITZERLAND
walnut bread with barley, rye starter
Birnenweggen SWITZERLAND
pear wedges with walnuts
Çerkez Tavuğu TURKEY Circassian Style Chicken
chicken with walnuts
Cevizli İncir Dolması / Syka Xerá me Karydia GREECE CRETE TURKEY
dried figs stuffed with walnuts

Cevizli Sarma TURKEY
layered walnut pastries
Cozonac ROMANIA
bread cake with walnuts
Fondue Apfel-Walnuss SWITZERLAND
cheese sauce with apples and walnuts
Garash BULGARIA
sweet walnut cake
Gavurdağ Salatası TURKEY
tomato, cucumber and pepper salad with walnuts
Hallva ALBANIA
sweet walnut paste
Icli Köfte TURKEY
bulgur, meat balls with walnut filling
Karidópita GREECE
walnut syrup cake
Kartoffel-Baumnuss-Brötchen SWITZERLAND
potato and walnut bread rolls

Keşli Cevizli Erişte TURKEY
home-made noodles with cheese and walnut sauce
Kharcho ხარკო GEORGIA
meat in walnut sauce
Koripaparani (Cevizli Tavuk Tirit) TURKEY
chicken with walnuts
Lobio ლობიო GEORGIA
beans in garlic-walnut sauce
Malidjano MACEDONIA
aubergine with cheese and walnuts
Muhammara TURKEY
bread, red pepper paste and walnuts with yoghurt
Nussbrötchen / Nussbrötli GERMANY SWITZERLAND
milk bread rolls with walnuts
Nüsslisalat mit Frucht Vinaigrette FRANCE SWITZERLAND
cornsalad with fruity vinegar and walnut oil
Nüsstorte AUSTRIA GERMANY SWITZERLAND
nut cake with walnuts
Orehove Potica SLOVENIA
walnut bread
Pan de Nueces SPAIN
sweet walnut bread
Rainbow Trout with horseradish, lemon and walnut sauce ENGLAND FRANCE

Roggenvollkorn Walnuss Brot GERMANY SWITZERLAND
walnut rye bread
Salsa di Noci ITALY
walnut sauce
Samsa TURKEY
puff-pastry triangles filled with walnuts in syrup
Satsivi GEORGIA
walnut sauce
Skordalia GREECE
garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, potatoes, walnuts
Supë Pule me Arra ALBANIA
chicken and walnut soup
Ynkuyzov Sous Ընկույզով Սոուս ARMENIA
walnut sauce