Taste: Fillo Dough, Phyllo Dough, Kotopita 2 Ways
Phyllo dough is a traditional dough mix made from wheat, water, and oil. Some phyllo recipes may call for use of egg yolk. Phyllo dough is used to make paper-thin pastries and pies. It is an important cooking material in Greek and Turkish cuisine. The Turkish term for phyllo is yufka, which is slightly thicker than the very thin phyllo. Multiple layers of this very thin dough are separated with butter. The filling can be sweet or savory.
Phyllo dough flour is unleavened, i.e. there is no yeast used to raise the dough. The prepared, filled, and shaped dough is baked. The baking time depends upon the filling used.
Phyllo, also written as fillo or filo can be made at home or purchased from the supermarket. Homemade phyllo dough does not dry out fast and hence is easy to work with; however preparing phyllo at home requires considerable skill. The dough has to be stretched and rolled very thin with constant sprinkling of flour to ensure that it does not break.
With a little practice phyllo can be shaped easily into triangles, squares, circles, stars, etc. The dough can be layered, folded, and rolled.
Layered bread similar to phyllo is found across diverse cultures including Austrian, German, Hungarian, and Egyptian.
Some popular Greek phyllo recipes include Kotopita which is a chicken pastry; Kreatopita with meat fillings; and Chortopita with vegetable fillings.
April 27th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
I am looking for a good recipe for cherry turnovers using Phyllo Dough.