CHENNAI: Layers of thin filo pastry usually give way quite easily when you slice through with a knife. Not when it’s layered with nuts and oozing with syrup though. You need to dig in a little bit, allow for the nuts to reorder themselves and part, the syrup to just about slip out and begin coating the knife where it’s cutting through.
Then, there’s a definite moment of release, when the first layer gives in and lets the knife through and little by little you slice it down all the way to the last layer; giving yourself a bite-sized piece of a baklava slice. At Ottoman’s Baklava & Künefe, I was already falling for this foreign dessert even before the fork reached my mouth. The rest, as they say, was foodgasm.
Project in a pandemic
It’s been a little over a week since the Turkish dessert paradise at Buva House on Khader Nawaz Khan Road opened its doors to customers, delighting them with authentic indulgences. Yet, their success isn’t all that newfound. Its origins in the home kitchen of Oven Basket dates back to early 2020 in the humble corners of Palavakkam.
Triangular slices of walnut baklava, squares of cashew variants, rolls of pista — the kitchen found itself catering to the city’s particular sweet tooth. It was well into the pandemic that Oven Basket transitioned into its current avatar, expanding into more treats than just this popular Turkish staple. Ask Sevki Ozertugrul about this success and he goes, “The pandemic has been good for us. We started off with the home kitchen and were taking orders online.
The huge response we received led us to look for a store here. We waited till the restrictions were removed and opened it here (Buva House). This is just the seventh day but we already have regular customers who come in. Besides the store, we continue to sell on Instagram, through Swiggy and Zomato,” he details.
Banking on tradition
The store has a wide assortment of takers for its titular dish, baklava. While there is no dearth of baklava noobs like me, there are many who have had their taste of the dessert in the Arabian lands and are seeking a chance to revisit the rare pleasure. But, even they are in for something new at Ottoman’s, says Sevki. “In Chennai, there are many people who have been to Dubai.
All the Arabic countries have baklava, which they took from Turkey. But, the formula has been changed in the Arabic countries they make the dry baklava without using the sherbet. Here in the city, there are already places selling the dry baklava. We tasted it and didn’t like it much. That’s when we thought we could do the original baklava. People who are familiar with the Arabian baklava come here to try the original version and they love it,” he elaborates, adding that their assorted box — with variants of chocolate, pistachio, walnut, cashew, carrot slice and cold (with fresh milk) — is their current bestseller.
Beyond the baklava
Despite the great demand for it, baklava is just the introduction to the treasures that come with the Turkish dessert tag, promises Sevki. And Ottoman’s already has quite a few to satisfy your curiosity. The revani — a traditional sweet cake made with semolina batter, sweetened with rose water or simple syrup and garnished with pistachios hits you with a wave of sweetness. If you’re having a whole slice of this yourself, you wouldn’t want to think about dessert for days.
Kibris is e s -sentially a cake where the batter is made of coconut flakes, bread crumbs and walnut. It’s topped with a generous layer of cream and a light sprinkle of snow-like coconut shavings. All this translates to one cream pillow followed by a slightly thicker cake pillow in your mouth; what’s not to like about that! Then, there’s the Trileche the Turkish Tres Leche but with a generous helping of caramel sauce; a dessert that will have you questioning your understanding of the solids. And for all you Biscoff lovers, the magnificent magnolia a layered pudding of biscuit crumbs, custard and fruit.
Kunafa on the cards
Even as the absence of the other titular dessert presents itself, Sevki explains that they are awaiting the machines that are being imported to specially make the kunafa. Just like the baklava, what people make here doesn’t really qualify as the original recipe — thanks to the use of clotted cream, he says. “The original one is made with cheese. Particularly, the hayat künefe peyniri. That cheese is not available in India. So, we have called in chefs who will prepare the cheese by hand here.
The machine (needed to make the dessert) is from Turkey. We’ve already placed the order. Once they get here, we’ll start serving kunafa,” he explains. When served warm, you’ll get the satisfying cheese pull as you cut into the dessert, he promises. Also on the menu are Turkish coffee and tea, and sherbet. But people are not satisfied with just the show of desserts, it seems. “We have had some chefs who make YouTube videos, wanting to learn about Turkish food.
We’re trying to help them too. There are too many customers asking about Turkish foods, not just sweets. I think they watch Turkish serials or they have already tasted such food. Maybe next year, we will start serving that too,” he shares. Well, we can only hope.
Meanwhile, their range of desserts are available for your pleasure at the store at Buva House; on Zomato, Swiggy and Instagram (ottomans_baklava). Priced from Rs 200.