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Re: Isn't that just filo pastry? - nt

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Phyllo (also spelled "filo" or "fillo") is a paper thin dough or pastry sheet used to make Middle Eastern and Greek desserts. European bakers adapted this delicate dough for their own purposes, using it to enrobe apples, raisins and sweet spices - the apple strudel was born! Purists would tell you that there is a difference between strudel and phyllo, but for our purposes, they are interchangeable.

Phyllo dough can, of course, be made from scratch. If you have ever seen puff pastry dough made, you know that it has over 1000 layers by the time it is completed; phyllo has even more! For our money (and sanity), we work with frozen phyllo dough, which is available in 11x17 inch sheets. A one pound box usually has about 25 sheets. Frozen phyllo dough is very delicate and requires a delicate touch. After much pain and aggravation we can give you the two most important points for handling frozen phyllo: be sure to allow phyllo to thoroughly thaw (in the plastic sleeve it comes in) before handling and after opening the package, be sure to keep the sheets covered with a damp towel to avoid drying. Work with one sheet at a time, keeping the remainder covered. If you follow these points and have a little patience, you can create some wonderful phyllo desserts.

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