Every week someone at our counter asks: "Is this baklava authentic?" It's a fair question — baklava is claimed by half the kitchens of the eastern Mediterranean. Here's our answer, from forty years at the phyllo table.
It starts with the phyllo
Authentic baklava begins with phyllo rolled so thin you can read a newspaper through it. In our bakery, the dough is stretched by hand on the same long table Stavros used in 1978 — forty layers for the classic cut, no shortcuts. Machine-rolled phyllo bakes dense and chewy; hand-rolled bakes light, with a shatter you can hear across the room.
Honey, not just syrup
The second secret is what you soak it with. Industrial baklava is drowned in plain sugar syrup. Ours is finished with thyme honey from Kythira — honey with a wild, herbal edge that balances the sweetness instead of burying it. The syrup goes on cold, over hot pastry, so the top stays crisp.
Walnuts, butter and patience
Greek baklava is a walnut baklava: chopped walnuts, a whisper of cinnamon, and real butter between every layer. And then patience — the tray rests overnight before the first cut, so the honey reaches every corner. You can taste the difference between a baklava that rested and one that didn't.
So — is ours authentic?
If authentic means hand-rolled phyllo, Kythira honey and an overnight rest, then yes. But come try it and argue with us over a Greek coffee — that's the real tradition.