The “language” of baklava

Before Tim left we made baklava. My friend SJ offered to give me a ride out to his place. I sat in outside the library waiting for her in the middle of a nice breeze, worrying. I hadn’t made baklava in over a year. I ran over the steps in my mind. Right before baking you cut the upper layers into diamond shapes.  “Why diamonds?” I wondered. Baklava is not the only Arab-type food cut into diamonds. American baked goods are often cut into squarish rectangles.  From a practical standpoint it really isn’t easier to cut things into square or into a diamond. It’s purely inclination. So what would cause this type of cultural inclination on the portioning of baked goods? Being a French major, language immediately popped into my head.  If you were to draw a rectilinear shape around a letter in Arabic script it would resemble a diamond, and if you were to do the same to a letter in the English alphabet you would get a square or rectangle. Interesting…  

The Laguage pf Baklava is also and excellent food based memoir by Daina Abu-Jaber.

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