It's not a word you hear a lot in the restaurant vocabulary in Sri Lanka. In fact, baklava is probably one of the hardest desserts to find in Colombo. Which is where Just Baklava pops in, and boy aren't we glad!
This is a home baker based in Dehiwala that sticks to its roots of just baklava, and some really great ones at that.
How To Order
Getting a batch of these babies is actually very simple. All you need to do is get on their Facebook page and DM every question, problem (baklava related) and cravings you need answering, and place your order. Their delivery is only available on weekends, and if you're looking for these goodies on a weekday, you can pick them up from Dehiwala. We went with the latter.
Baklava
For those of you who don't know what baklava is. Fear not, comrades, we're here to help.
baklava
/ˈbakləvə,bəˈklɑːvə/
noun
A dessert originating in the Middle East made of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and soaked in honey.
Now, take a look at this beaut.
Exactly. Ticking every single box that is required for an ideal Baklava, the Turkish variety was as pretty as a picture and the key to happiness in our opinion.
Positively drenched in honey, this little cube was the epitome of all that's good in the world. See, if we were to describe it from the bottom, this is essentially how it would go: smothered with honey, the base was a sheaf of paper-thin, slightly salty pastry. In the middle, you get chopped pistachios. Lots and lots of it.
Just Baklava does not cut corners when it comes to their nuts. The middle was thicker than both the top layer and the base but and because of maybe the consistency of the honey, the pistachios didn't fall out when we ate it.
And again, on top of that, you get the same pastry you see at the bottom, but a bit puffy version of that.
While being completely drenched in honey, the pastry managed to give a delightful crunch as we bit into it. Similar to when you bite into soan papdi. Spiked with enough spices to taste, but not to completely overpower the pastry, the Turkish Baklava was stunning.
This is the Greek Baklava.
Like the Turkish ones, this too was a delicious hybrid of nut, pastry and honey. Just, in terms of flavour, this one trumped the Turkish ones by a long shot.
Don't get us wrong, the Turkish ones were an absolute delight to deal with. Just, the Greek one had a lot more spice involved, that kind of ended up being the tip in the scale. Flaky, sweet and with an abundance of nuts, the Greek baklava was a dream come true. And neither are we exaggerating when we say that this particular one made us go like Anton Ego eating Remy's ratatouille in Ratatouille. Ask Vishvi, she'll vouch for it.
That being said, with lots of spice, including a heap of cloves, this was the best baklava I've had to date and we highly highly recommend you get a batch of these. We went with the 8-piece portions of Greek and Turkish Baklava – total price is Rs. 2700.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we absolutely loved it. The delivery process was as hassle-free as it could get, and the baklava was to die for. We say go for it!
