Persian Rice Cookies with Poppy Seeds (Nan-e Berenji) are irresistible, are made of rice flour, fragrant rose water and poppy seeds. They are very tender cookies and easily melt in your mouth.

Other recipes include a combination of rice flour, cornstarch, confectioners’ sugar and clarified butter makes these cookies perfectly crisp and light, but the lovely, delicate flavor comes from high-quality rosewater.

Turkish baghlava is a rich, sweet pastry made with layers of dough filled with chopped or ground nuts and sweetened as well as held together with syrup or honey. Turkish Baghlava history goes back to the cuisine of the former Ottoman Empire and those of the western part of the Middle East.

Baklava is normally prepared in large pans. Many layers of filo dough which is separated with melted butter and vegetable oil are laid in the pan. A layer of chopped nuts, typically walnuts or pistachios, but also hazelnuts is placed on top. Most recipes have multiple layers of filo and nuts, though some have only top and bottom pastry.

Before baking, the dough is cut into regular pieces, often lozenge-shaped, triangles, diamonds or rectangles. After baking, syrup is poured over the cooked baklava and allowed to soak in. The syrup may include honey, rosewater, or orange flower water. Baklava is usually served at room temperature, often garnished with ground nuts.

In Turkey, baklava is traditionally made by filling between the layers of dough with pistachios, walnuts or almonds. In the Black Sea Region hazelnuts are commonly used as a filling for baklava.