Paxlava

**Paxlava** is an exclusive single stamp in SLOWLY. This can be purchased in the shop when you visit Azerbaijan .

## Information

**Baklava** is a layered pastry dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey. It was one of the most popular sweet pastries of Ottoman cuisine.

The pre-Ottoman origin of the dish is unknown, but, in modern times, it is a common dessert of Turkish, Iranian and Arab cuisines, and other countries of the Levant and Maghreb, along with the South Caucasus, Balkans, Somalia and Central Asia.
**Azerbaijani pakhlava** (Azerbaijani: *Azərbaycan paxlavası*), or simply pakhlava (Azerbaijani: *Paxlava*), are a type of baklavas made in Azerbaijan for Nowruz holiday, although not baked only for holidays. Yeasty pastry, hazelnuts or Circassian walnut, milled clove, cardamom, and saffron are used for the preparation of pakhlava. Milled nuts and sugar are used for stuffing.

The diamond shape of pakhlava is commonly associated with a star or fire in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani pakhlava is multilayered and commonly prepared with walnuts or almonds and flavored with saffron. It is generally made in a big baking tray. Pakhlava has some variations in different regions of Azerbaijan based on the ingredients and baking techniques.

A layer is rolled out from the pastry with thickness of not less than 2 mm, put into baking tray, oiled and lavishly filled with stuffing. This process is continued, until 9–10 layers are made. Another version uses 14 layers. The last layer is greased with yolk, mixed up with saffron. Then pakhlava is cut into two rhombus, then either hazelnut or half of the kernel of Circassian walnut is placed on each piece. Then it is baked with 180–200 °C temperature pending 30–40 minutes.

* **Baku pakhlava**. Baku pakhlava can be made of peeled almonds or walnuts. It consists of 8–10 layers. Its top layer is coated with saffron mixed with yolk. A half walnut or pistachio is placed on the center of the top layer of each diamond-shaped piece. Syrup or honey is poured on the surface of pakhlava 15 minutes before it is ready.
* **Ganja pakhlava**. Ganja pakhlava is characterized by its stuffing prepared of almond, sugar and cinnamon, baking on a copper tray over a campfire and consisting of 18 layers of pastry. 8 layers of almond stuffing are spread on every 3 buttered layers of pastry. The surface is coated with egg. Syrup is added to Ganja pakhlava 15–20 minutes before it is ready. Infusion of rose petals (gulab) can also be added to the dough, and cardamom is added to the stuffing.
* **Rishta pakhlava**. This kind of pakhlava differs from the other types with its top layer which is covered with rishta. Rishta is made from wheat starch or rice flour. Grid-shaped rishta made by pouring knead liquid dough on hot griddle through a special funnel with 11 holes and baking it in a minute.
* **Guba pakhlava**. This type of pakhlava is characterized especially by its colour. The covering layer of Guba pakhlava is coated with a mixture of saffron and a red colour additive. Guba pakhlava consists of approximately 50 rishta layers.
* **Sheki pakhlava**. It is also called Sheki halva. It is made from rishta, stuffing (hazelnut, cardamom and coriander seeds) and syrup.

Text and image from Wikipedia.

## Method

This stamp could be purchased on the shop when you log into your account while inside the country.

You will keep it and be able to send to other penpals even after you return from your trip.