Pistachio & Walnut Baklava, from Dianne Bibby’s More Good Food

Dianne Bibby. (Photo: Supplied)

By Tony Jackman

28 Jun 2024

Dianne Bibby produces classy cookery books. Hardcover, glossy, gorgeously styled, fabulous photography (her own) – but most of all, it is her recipes that are right off the top shelf.

With an endorsement by Michelin rated chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen, who in his foreword describes this book as “extraordinary”, Dianne Bibby is out of the stocks and racing hard and fast even before you get to the first recipe.

That first recipe is for sumac and tahini yoghurt sauce, and already my culinary ears have pricked up. You know you’ve found a cookbook worth buying when you see a recipe and don’t blink before thinking: “I want that.” There’s plenty more in this vein to start off with, from dressings and vinaigrettes to butters, syrups, jams and curds.

One glance at the cinnamon and cardamom pull-apart bread with a bourbon glaze, in the Bread section, and you think you’ve found perfection, but she quickly disavows this in her description of it: “Stacking the dough squares, one atop the other, before nestling in a loaf tin, turns bread on its head. Irregularity is part of the charm, so don’t bother with perfection.”

Dianne Bibby. (Photo: Supplied)

It’s one of 11 dough recipes, starting with hokkaido, the Japanese milk bread, other highlights including Danish oat and honey wholemeal loaf, Venetian pizza tiles (crisp crackers), Swedish cardamom buns, and “overnight focaccia”, of which she writes: “The bubble activity is wildly exciting. So too is opening the oven door to a gust of Italian air that smells of rosemary, olives and brown butter. Expect nothing less than a bronzed crust that’s audibly crisp. Once baked, wait as long as you think is appropriate. Two minutes sound about right?”

I love the confidence she has in her cooking. The focaccia dough is oil-coated, covered and chilled overnight. Once brought to room temperature and stretched into a 35 cm x 22 cm roasting tin, it is covered and left to rise for two to three hours before being drenched with a salamoia (a sort of brine) and baked at 230°C for scarcely more than half an hour.

Elsewhere in this lovely book, my eye was arrested by the Turkish eggs with sliced butter (poached eggs on lemony yoghurt with oils and za’atar), the red Thai gochujang salmon curry, the coconut panna cotta and granadilla duo (which looks at once beautiful and like a cruel MasterChef Australia challenge), the raspberry mille feuille (why have I never made one? I feel it will be soon), and the burnt Basque cheesecake with almond cookie crust. I did also pause at the whimsical shortbread matchsticks and think: so clever, so simple.

But it was the pistachio and walnut baklava that had me drooling the most, so this is the recipe that I asked to be shared with you.

Dianne Bibby’s Pistachio & Walnut Baklava

Bibby writes: “Said to have been brought to the Ottoman empire by the Turks in the 15th century, this phyllo-drenched pastry has captivated and charmed sweet tooth lovers the world over. Rather than cloyingly sweet, this version is more nut-focused than it is sugary. When the former courses have been resplendent, a small mouthful of sweet makes for the perfect closure, along with a strong black coffee.”

(Makes a 28 cm round)

250 g pistachios

100 g walnuts

5 ml ground cinnamon

4 cardamom pods, crushed, husks removed, and finely ground

45 ml castor sugar

500 g phyllo pastry (17 sheets), cut into rounds to fit the baking tin

120 g butter, melted

Syrup

300 ml water

160 g granulated white sugar

80 ml honey

15 ml lemon juice

zest of 1 orange

2 lemon slices

2 cinnamon sticks

a pinch of fine salt

5 ml rosewater

Start by making the syrup. Place all the ingredients, except the rosewater, in a small saucepan. Simmer over a low heat for 7 to 8 minutes.

Stir in the rosewater, then set aside to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Butter a 28 cm round baking tin.

Place the pistachios, walnuts, cinnamon, cardamom and sugar in a processor, and blitz in short spurts until the nuts are coarsely chopped, but still with some texture.

Brush seven sheets of pastry with melted butter, stacking one on top of the other while layering in the baking tin. Scatter half the nut mixture on top. Layer five more buttered sheets of phyllo on top of the nut mixture, pressing gently to compress. Cover with the remaining nuts, using your fingertips to spread them evenly. Brush the remaining five sheets of phyllo with butter and place on top. The final phyllo sheet should be well buttered to ensure a deeply golden colour.

With a sharp knife, cut the pastry halfway through in the desired pattern, being careful not to cut all the way through. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes. Cover with foil halfway through the baking time if the top darkens too much.

Pour the cooled syrup over the hot pastry as soon as it comes out of the oven. Set aside for several hours before cutting through. DM

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