Patterns of Identity

Baklava is the name for both a traditional Turkish dessert pastry and the diamond pattern often used in rugs woven in Anatolia. Comprising layers of phyllo dough laden with chopped nuts and soaked in a honey syrup, the sweet, addictive, diamond-shaped delicacy is a favorite among tourists in Turkey, and so is the baklava-patterned Turkish rug, or kilim. Since arriving in the region in the eleventh century, Turks have woven carpets using geometric and stylized natural patterns; common among them