Fresh tuna & salade niçoise (French Riviera salad)

For ➏
400 g green beans, trimmed
750 g small potatoes
vegetable oil for brushing
20 g drained bottled capers
400 g lettuce (2 heads), leaves separated & large ones torn into pieces
1 bunch cherry tomatoes
100 g small brine-cured black olives
4 hard-boiled large eggs, quartered
3 tbs fresh parsley & basil, finely chopped
750 g (2,5 cm thick) tuna steaks*
ice-bowl with ice-cubes
20-25 cl (or 10 tbs for the salad +10 tbs for (optional) extra) salade niçoise dressing**

Cook beans in boiling salted water 3 to 4 m. Transfer to a bowl of ice and cold water to stop cooking. Add potatoes to boiling water and simmer 15 to 20 m, then drain. Halve potatoes while still warm (peel if desired) and toss with 2 tbs dressing in a bowl, then cool.
Prepare grill for cooking.
Brush tuna with oil and season with salt and pepper, then grill on lightly oiled rack, uncovered, turning over once, until browned on outside but still pink in centre, 6 to 8 m in total. Let tuna stand for 3 minutes, then break into large pieces. Put tuna on a large platter and drizzle with 2 to 3 tbs dressing and top with capers.< Add potatoes to platter with tuna. Drain beans and pat dry. Toss beans in bowl with 1 tbs dressing and salt and pepper to taste, then transfer to platter. Toss lettuce in bowl with 2 tbs dressing and salt and pepper to taste, then transfer to platter. Toss tomatoes in bowl with 1 tbs dressing and salt and pepper to taste, then transfer to platter. Arrange olives and eggs on platter and sprinkle salad with parsley and/or basil. Serve salad with remaining dressing on the side.

*You can do a light salad without the tuna. If you must, you can use canned tuna. If you prefer fully cooked tuna, try the marinating tuna recipe.
**Or try a lemon & mustard vinaigrette.

The salade was named niçoise by tourists, and originally meant a typical salad of the region, consisting mainly of tomatoes and olive oil. It became popular in the 60's, when scarcely clad, tan-hungry tourists from all over Europe were drawn to the French Riviera. The discussion thrives on about the original recipe of la sallada nissarda, mainly omitting green beans and potatoes from the now widely spread recipe.
The city of Nice is only a part of France since 1860. Before the treaty, it went its own way, mostly with Sardinian and Italian allies and influences, tough it was occupied by French (and Spanish) armies before. The Italian freedom fighter Garibaldi, born in Nice, tried to make it a part of Italy.
Picture in salade niçoise dressing shows the fishing nets on the beach of late 19th century Nice.
Read more Provençal recipes: salade niçoise dressing, Provençal garlic sauce, old-fashioned salade niçoise, Saint-Tropez (Provençal) chicken.

Mexican hot chocolate with tequila & cayenne

For ➋ servings
70 cl milk
125 g premium dark chocolate, broken into chunks
6 tbs cocoa
2 tbs cane sugar
⅛-¼ ts cayenne (or paprika)
12 cl tequila (or white rum)
10 cl heavy whipping cream
ground cinnamon for garnish

Warm the milk in a medium size heavy saucepan on medium heat, watching carefully.
Add the chocolate, the cocoa and the sugar.
Heat until the chocolate dissolves, whisking to combine all ingredients.
Season with the cayenne pepper. Start with ⅛ teaspoon and season to your taste.
Pour the warm milk into 2 large mugs and add 2 oz of tequila.
Top with whipped cream. Sprinkle whipping cream with cinnamon.

El pagnon boregne (Borinage sugar cake)

For ➑
300 g flour
100 g butter
30 g of fresh yeast
2 eggs
pinch of salt
2 tbs granulated sugar
150 g blonde caster sugar
black coffee

Crumble the yeast in 20 cl warm water and stir vigorously. Melt the butter in the microwave.
Whisk the eggs.
Put the flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour it in the melted butter, beaten egg, granulated sugar and the dissolved yeast. Mix together with a whisk into a homogeneous dough. Add salt and mix again.
Form a ball of dough and let rise for 1.5 h in a warm place.
Preheat the oven to 180 ° C.
Brush the tin with butter and pour the dough in it. Let it rise for 30 m.
Make holes in the dough with your fingers, without touching the bottom. Spread the caster sugar over the dough, avoiding the edge.
Sprinkle with coffee, spread some in the holes as well.. Put in preheated oven and bake for 35 m.
Serve warm or cooled, with black coffee.

In the North of France and in the Belgian region of the Borinage, tartes au sucre (sugar cakes) are very popular as a simple and inexpensive dessert. In the Borinage and Mons this pagnon (argot for 'compagnon', French for 'company', is a traditional treat.
It is made with cassonade, a blonde or brown rough sugar, that is used in several Belgian desserts and cookies, such as speculaas and spread over pancakes, bread, strawberries... The best known is the Graeffe brand, founded in Brussels in 1848.

Pumpkin soup with ginger & chilli

For ➍
1 small pumpkin
1 large onion
1 large potato
3 tbs olive oil
1 l vegetable stock
½ small red chilli, chopped
3 cm fresh ginger, peeled
3 dl cream
salt & pepper
pumpkin seed oil
peanuts or dried pumpkin seeds

Peel the pumpkin and cut the flesh into chunks. Do the same with the onion and potato.
Heat olive oil in a large pan. Fry the vegetables. Add stock. Add chopped chilli and ginger and bring to a boil.
Simmer for about 1 h. Blend mooth. Add the cream and season with salt and pepper.
Serve in soup plates or bowls with a line pumpkin seed oil. Garnish with freshly shelled peanuts or dried pumpkin seeds.

Dover sole salad

For ➍
4 Dover sole fillets (or another white fish)
100 g baby spinach leaves
150 g celeriac
1 lettuce
1 zucchini
1 red onion
a handful of chervil
4 dl vegetable stock
2 dl walnut oil
olive oil
vinegar
thyme & bay leaf
salt

Select the inner leaves of the lettuce, wash and spin dry. Wash a few sprigs of chervil and the spinach leaves. Let them dry.
Cut ½ red onion into rings. Take a large bowl. Mix the vegetables.
Peel the celeriac. Cut into small cubes. Cut the other ½ onion finely and fry in olive oil, add the celeriac cubes and moisten with broth. Season with salt, thyme and bay leaf. Let the celeriac gently simmer.
Mix fine, sieve and finish with walnut oil. Cut the zucchini lengthwise into thin slices. Rub the slices with olive oil and grill briefly on both sides. Season with salt.
Pat the sole fillets dry, dipping slightly in olive oil and grill on a hot grill. Turn after a few s a quarter. Season with salt.
Put a pile of mixed salad on a plate. Arrange the warm courgettes and sole fillets. Finish with some sauce.

Sweet potato with feta, olives & coriander

For ➍
300 g feta
½ ts fennel seeds
½ ts coriander seeds
1 chilli pepper
4 large sweet potatoes
125 g black olives
1 bunch fresh coriander
olive oil
pepper

Preheat oven at 180°C.
Prick with a fork some holes in the sweet potatoes and place them in the oven until they are completely cooked (about 50 m).
Remove the seeds from the chilli. Cut it fine.
Remove pits from the olives. Cut them into pieces.
Crumble the feta. Mix with the fennel and coriander seeds, olives and sliced ​​chilli. Add a few tbs of olive oil and mix into a smooth mixture.
Halve the cooked sweet potatoes, remove a scoop and put the feta mixture in.
Finish with a handful of coriander leaves.

Read tip on cooking sweet potatoes & microwave.

Spinach salad with warm bacon vinaigrette

For ➍
100 g baby spinach
2 large white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
¼ small or medium red onion, very thinly sliced*
1 large egg, hard-boiled, chilled, peeled & thinly sliced**
4 pieces thick-sliced bacon (about 100 g), finely diced
2 tbs red wine vinegar
½ ts honey
½ ts smooth (Dijon) mustard
coarse salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place spinach in a large, wide salad serving bowl. Scatter with mushrooms, red onion* and coins of hard-boiled egg.
In a large skillet, fry bacon bits over medium-high heat until brown and crisp and having rendered their fat.
Use a slotted spoon to scoop them out of the skillet and spread them on a piece of paper towel briefly before sprinkling them over the salad.
Pour out all but 2 tbs of hot bacon fat from the skillet. Reheat over medium and quickly whisk in the red wine vinegar, honey and Dijon*. Pour over entire salad and season salt and pepper.
Toss gently and serve hot.

*Add the raw onion to the dressing in the skillet for the last 10 s to soften it and remove more of the bite, and pour the onions and dressing over the salad together.
**Put eggs in cold water. Bring it to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, set a timer to exactly 10 m, and reduce the heat to medium. Plunge egg in icy water to stop cooking immediately and chill quickly.

Hot Tennessee toddy

For ➊
1 part (3 cl) Bourbon
1 tbs honey
1 cinnamon stick
1 squeeze of fresh lemon juice
boiling water

Pour the Bourbon into a heavy mug.
Add 1 tbs spoonful of honey, cinnamon stick and lemon juice.
Top with boiling water and stir.
Drink before going to sleep.

A toddy is a traditional drink in North England, mixing whisky with hot water or milk and some spices, meant to cure a cold. The name might have been derived from a Scottish nickname for whiskey. The American versions mostly use Bourbon, or, as in Wisconsin,  brandy. Sometimes the water is replaced by ginger ale, omitting the cinnamon. This is the version preferred by Tennessee whiskey distiller Jack Daniels.

Warm mushroom salad with hazelnuts & pecorino

For ➍
50 g hazelnuts
2 tbs finely diced shallots
3 tbs sherry or a white wine vinegar
9 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 kg button or assorted mushrooms, cleaned & sliced
2 tbs salted butter
175 g salad greens such as frisé or arugula
25 g mix of fresh herbs (chives, tarragon...)
1 ts fresh thyme or a couple pinches of dried
1-2 sliced shallots
125 g pecorino or Parmigiano

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Toast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet for 8 to 10 m, rolling them around once or twice to make sure they toast evenly. Rub nuts in a dish towel to remove skins then let cool. Chop the hazelnuts coarsely.
Whisk the shallots, vinegar, ½ ts salt together in a bowl and let sit for 5 m (this will soften and almost pickle the shallots), before whisking in 5 tbs olive oil.
Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tbs olive oil and 1 tbs butter until the butter foams. Add half the mushrooms, half the thyme and season with salt and pepper. Sauté the mushrooms for about 5 m, until they’re softened but not limp (cooking time will depend on the type of mushrooms).
Transfer mushrooms to a plate then repeat with the second half. When they are cooked, return the first half of the mushrooms to the pan then toss in sliced shallots, cooking for an additional 2 m.
Spread salad greens on a plate. Sprinkle fresh herbs on top, if using. Spoon hot mushrooms over the salad greens. Pour three-quarters of the vinaigrette in the sauté pan and swirl it in the pan until heated. Season it with ¼ ts salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pour over salad and toss carefully.
Use a vegetable peeler to shave cheese over the salad. Sprinkle with hazelnuts. Serve immediately.

Quick sunny chicken @ wok

For ➋
200 g chicken fillet
½ fennel bulb
½ (blood) orange
½ large fleshy tomato
1 ts Thai curry mix**
½ ts pepper
½ tbs oil
1 tbs coconut milk*

Cut the fillet into very thin slices. Shave the fennel into paper thin strips. Cut the tomato into very small cubes, save the juice*.

Heat the wok. Heat the oil. Add the curry mix.

After 1 m, add the chicken pieces. Stir fry them for a few m. Add the fennel strips. Let them fry for 1 m.

With a fork, press the juice out of the orange, right into the wok. Let it become hot.

Add the tomato chunks.

Turn the heat to medium. Cook for about 8 m. The juice should become a tangy orange sauce.

Mix tomato juice* or coconut milk in the sauce*.

Serve with rice. Or put in the refrigerator for a cold salad.
*Optional.
**Or ½ ts coriander & ½ ts turmeric. Or 1 tbs fresh coriander, chopped & 1 tbs garlic, chopped.

Chicken Po' boy

For ➋
2 small baguettes or ciabatta (or 1, cut in 2)
1 skinned chicken breast
cornmeal or flour
groundnut oil
mayonnaise
shredded (iceberg) lettuce
½ lemon

Split the bread lengthwise, put together and warm in a hot oven.

Slice the chicken into 6. Roll in cornmeal or flour. Fry the pieces in hot oil till crisp, 4-5 m.

Take the bread from the oven. Spread mayonnaise on all sides. Put lettuce on bottom halves. Add chicken pieces. Squeeze some lemon juice on them. Put the top halves on and press down.

Serve warm.

This is a lighter version of the New Orleans classic po' boy. Made with French bread, they can be filled with fried oysters, shrimp, fish, soft-shelled crabs, crayfish, roast beef and gravy, roast pork, meatballs, smoked sausage and more, dressed with a range of condiments (usually mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomatoes) or undressed. It goes back to the oyster loaves from the 19th century, when buns would be scooped, heated and filled with grilled oysters. The name 'po' boy' (from poor boy) seems to have derived from the cheap sandwiches with trimmings the Martin Brothers offered at their Coffee Stand (photograph) to the unpaid streetcar strikers in 1929.
The po' boy is one of the many American submarine sandwiches, loafs of bread loaded with ingredients.
Try another classic American sandwich. Try another Louisiana dish.

Sharlotka (Russian apple cake)

For ➏-➑
butter for greasing pan
6 large tart apples, such as Granny Smiths

1 lemon
3 large eggs
200 g granulated sugar
1 ts vanilla extract
125 g all-purpose flour
ground cinnamon, canella, to finish
powdered sugar, to finish

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Line the bottom of a 22 cm springform pan with parchment paper. Butter the paper and the sides of the pan.

Peel, halve and core the apples, then chop them into medium-sized chunks. (Or cut them fairly thinly). Sprinkle chunks with lemon juice to keep them from browning.

Pile the cut apples directly in the prepared pan.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl , using an electric mixer or whisk, beat eggs with sugar until thick and ribbons form on the surface of the beaten eggs. Beat in vanilla, then stir in flour with a spoon until just combined. The batter will be very thick.

Pour over apples in pan, using a spoon or spatula to spread the batter so that it covers all exposed apples. Spread the batter and press it down into the apple pile. The top of the batter should end up level with the top of the apples.

Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 60 m, or until a tester comes out free of batter. If necessary, cover with a sheet of foil to avoid too heavy browning.

Cool in pan for 10 m on rack, then flip out onto another rack, peel off the parchment paper, and flip it back onto a serving platter. Dust lightly with ground cinnamon.

Serve warm or cooled, dusted with powdered sugar. Serve with plain black tea.

Optionally, add a dollop of barely sweetened whipped or sour cream.

Sharlotka is a popular Russian dessert, made with autumn ingredients. You can add chopped walnuts to the mixture. The name reminds of a classic apple Charlotte, though that would be much more sophisticated.

Chicken & rice salad

For ➋
200 g white rice
5 tbs oil
pinch of nutmeg
lemon juice or white wine vinegar
225 g cold cooked chicken, cut into strips
85-110 g mushrooms, sliced
freshly ground black pepper

Cook the rice. Drain the rice. While it is warm, dress it with the oil, nutmeg and plenty of fresh ground black pepper. Add the lemon juice or white wine vinegar.

Stir the cooked chicken and sliced mushrooms into the rice.

Serve the salad straight away or chill in the fridge and serve cold.

This rice salad can be eaten warm or cold. Serve it with a tomato and basil salad and some crusty bread for a main course.
Read more Elizabeth David recipes: roasted peppers, lettuce & almond salad, fish parcel, poaching an egg.

Café-calva

For ➊
1 small hot coffee ('petit café')
2 tbs + ½ ts Calvados

Pour the coffee into a serving mug.

Pour 2 tbs of Calvados into a small shot glass.

Sprinkle the remaining ½ ts of Calvados over the hot coffee.

This traditional French pousse-café is quickly sliding into oblivion. The related cafe normande is a much more elaborated concoction with brown sugar and cream.

Grilled salmon & fennel salad

For ➍
400 g salmon, with skin*
2 medium fennel bulbs, with stalks & fronds
100 g (or 1 can) cannellini beans**
salt & black pepper
garlic powder
olive oil
juice of 2 lemons
(rice wine) vinegar

Cut stalks off fennel, reserving the fronds. Cut the bulbs in half.

Coat the fennel with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Do the same with the salmon. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the seasoned salmon.

Grill the fennel and the salmon on a preheated grill, brushing occasionally with olive oil.

After everything has been turned once or twice, squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over everything. Continue cooking until fennel is slightly soft and has dark grill marks, and salmon is cooked through.***

Let everything cool a bit, before slicing fennel into pretty thin strips, and flaking the salmon off the skin.

Place into a bowl together. Add rinsed beans. Dress with olive oil, lemon juice and a bit of vinegar, and season with salt, pepper and white pepper. Toss gently.

Serve with crusty bread.****

*With skin, it's easier to grill the fish.
**Or other white beans. When using dried beans, cook them separately. (Use 40 g dried beans, they will double in size when cooked). You could use cooked green beans. Or leave the beans out.
***Salmon steaks of 2.5 cm thick would need 5 m for each side on medum, when the grill is hot enough to scar the flesh. Sliced fennel of 2.5 cm thick would need 5 m to grill, then 5 m to become sweet. A trick is to microwave the fish, about 1 m per 100 g, stop before completion, then grill the fish for 2 m each side.
****Or put it away and eat it cold the next day.

Read a similar recipe: seared salmon with fennel salad.

Tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelet)

For ➋-➍
4 large eggs
1 tbs sugar (slightly more for cold tamagoyaki)
1 ts mirin
¼ ts salt
½ ts light soy sauce (usukuchi shoyu)* or regular soy sauce
oil for cooking
(halve the quantities for a 2-egg tamagoyaki**)
extra:
20 cm non-stick frying pan
a heat resistant brush or kitchen paper, for spreading the oil
1 or 2 forks, or 1 fork and a pair of chopsticks
sushi rolling mat
a fine-meshed sieve***

Heat up the pan on medium-low heat. Make ready a small bowl of oil, and the brush or kitchen paper.
In another bowl, beat all the ingredients together with a fork or chopsticks. Don’t use a whisk since because it would foam the eggs. (Strain the egg mixture through a sieve to even it out, making a finer and more even egg mix.)***
Brush the heated pan with a little oil. Put in about 2 to 3 tbs of egg mixture in the pan. Cook gently (lower the heat if necessary) until it’s not quite set on top, but not runny. Roll it up with a fork or chopsticks to one side of the pan.
Brush the exposed part of the pan with a little oil.
Put another couple of tbs of egg mixture in the pan. Spread it around, lifting the cooked egg so that the uncooked egg flows below it.
Cook until this layer is almost set, then roll the whole egg to the opposite side of where it is.
Brush the pan again with oil. Add another couple of tbs of egg mixture in the pan, and spread around the pan and under the cooked egg.
Keep repeating this procedure until the egg mixture is used up.
Put the tamagoyaki on a moistened sushi rolling mat, seam side down.
Roll it up tightly.
Take it out, slice with a sharp knife and serve immediately with some grated daikon radish, with a tiny bit of soy sauce.
When making it for a bento box, leave the whole roll in the mat over a raised rim plate or bowl until it’s cooled to room temperature. This allows air to pass under and over it, cooling it faster. Slice into even pieces. Cut off the ends for nice cuts.

*Using light soy sauce will keep the colour pale yellow. Cook over low heat to avoid browning.
**A 2 eggs variant will be thinner.
***Optional.

'Tamagoyaki' or 'atsuyaki tamago' means fried egg in Japanese. A slightly sweeter (with some more sugar) variation is used cold in bento boxes and on sushi rolls. Vary the flavor by adding finely chopped green onion or garlic chives, or small bits of nori seaweed. Achieve a black-and-yellow spiral effect by putting torn pieces of nori over each almost-set egg layer before rolling. In Japan, a square pan would be used to make perfect rolls.
If the tamagoyaki seems a bit too runny, firm it in the microwave for about 1 m.

Salade lyonnaise (French poached egg salad)

For ➊
1 handful frisee lettuce, torn into small pieces
2 strips bacon, cooked & crumbled
3 tbs croutons
1 poached egg
shallot vinaigrette

Layer a chilled salad plate with torn frisee, crumbled bacon, croutons, and a poached egg.
Finish the poached egg salad with a drizzle of shallot vinaigrette.

More recipes from the Lyon region: goat cheese spread, matefaim salé, braised chicken with cream sauce.

Pancetta wrapped Brussels sprouts

For ➍-➏, makes 24 pieces
24 Brussels sprouts, blanched
50 grams butter, unsalted
24 strips thinly sliced pancetta
2 tbs sage honey
50 g sliced almonds
thyme

Cut off bottom of Brussels sprouts, wrap in pancetta and place them in fire proof glass dish.

Melt the butter. Add 2 tbs of honey, add thyme and pour over the Brussels sprouts.

Sprinkle the almonds on top. Bake it in a 180ºC preheated oven until pancetta is crispy.

Le cocktail Lumumba

For ➊
6 cl dark Cuban rum*
12 cl milk**
5 ts cocoa powder**
whipped cream*
chocolate shavings*

For the warm version, heat the milk to drinking temperature.

Add rum and cocoa. Stir.

Top with whipped cream and add chocolate shavings.

For the cold version, mix milk and cocoa (or use chocolate milk**). Add rum*. Pour on ice cubes.

*For the original version, use vodka. Omit cream and chocolate shavings. Use brandy instead, or an equal mix of brandy and coffee liquor.
**For the original version, use dark chocolate milk.

When after the Congolese independence in 1960, Patrice Lumumba became prime minister and declared himself a partisan of mild communism, his fate was sealed by murder. In the former motherland Belgium, his name was used to mix a quite racist, but delicious cocktail of chocolate milk and vodka (the Russian influence). After his death, he was considered a martyr by African nations and by the USSR who honored his legacy with a stamp.
The cocktail disappeared in Belgium but lived on in several versions, hot and cold, with rum substituting the vodka (suitable enough, as Cuban fighters were involved in the Congo wars). (Sometimes it is replaced with brandy and/or coffee liquor, omitting the milk).
The warm version comes close to a simple version of the mighty Mexican serpent's chocolate.

Strucolo di ciliege (a Friuli cherries' strudel)

For ➏
350 g flour
warm water or 2 eggs, lightly beaten*
1 ts of vinegar
salt
1 kg cherries, pitted & sliced**
25 g bread crumbs, toasted in a little butter
1 lemon, juiced & zest grated
50 g butter
125 g sugar

Sift the flour on a workplace, make a well in it. Add a pinch of salt, water or eggs, vinegar and knead the mixture well into a smooth dough that does not stick.

Roll the sheet out thinly (1 mm). Let rest for 30 m. Put on a clean kitchen towel and push out the dough into a rectangle.**

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Mix the cherries, bread crumbs, lemon juice, grated zest, butter and sugar together. Spread over the dough. Leave a free border at both side and and on the side close to you.

Lift the end of the towel towards you and gently push the dough to roll up. Use the last border part to seal the package. Seal the left and right borders as well. (Seal with some egg white.)

Put on a sheet of baking paper. Move gently into the oven and bake for 45 m.

Serve slices of the strucolo warm or lukewarm. A good grappa will make excellent company.

*Or just the yolks for a richer dough. Save egg whites for sealing.
**You can use apricots instead: 700 g apricots, pitted, sliced thinly + 80 g sugar + 25 g bread crumbs, browned in a little unsalted butter + 25 g butter. Change the filling to apples (and raisins). Walnuts and raisins with some rum and chocolate will do as well.
***As the dough is not sugared, it can be used for savory filling as well.

Until the end of the First World War, the Goriza province of the Alpine Friuli stayed a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The other provinces of the Carso plateau were already turned over to Italy in 1866, but stayed more central European than the rest of Italy. It has developed a cuisine that's close to Austrian and German cuisine.
This struciolo seems a variation of the classic Austrian Apfelstrudel, made with apples. This one, with cherries, is called Weichselstrudel in German. It goes well with the Trieste goulash (Gulyas alla Triestina) or Friuli winter salad for a hearty winter meal.
The strudel is a variation to the Ottoman cuisine baklava, made with flaky phyllo dough (which some cooks use as a replacement), and may have been developed in the Byzantine era. During Turkish occupation of central Europe in the 16th and 17th century, baklava shifted in some of these areas to a filling with apples, and a high gluten dough. From the former Turkish territories Croatia and Bosnia, close enough to Friuli to have a been a direct influence, and Hungary, it came to Austria, and became popular in the whole former Habsburg Empire and Germany. By immigration from central Europe, it spread to the United States, Israel and Brazil.