# Europe Forum > European Culture & History > European food and recipes >  What are some ancient Antolian and ancient Persian foods?

## ratchet_fan

It seems that for some reason food historians think Turks invented most Anatolian, Caucasian and Persian food (from baklava to khachapuri to doner to manti to basturma to kebabs to pilafs to many types of breads). IF this is true what did the ancient Byzantines and Sassanids eat prior to Turks taking over their lands?

Also is it true Turkish manti is the ancestor of Slavic dumplings? The competing theory is that Persian traders spread a dish called joshpara to Fino-Ugric people who spread that to Slavs (but there are theories Persian joshpara is turkic too?). But that doesn't seem plausible to me.

Thanks. I find food history very interesting for some reason.

----------


## Angela

See the following for Byzantine food.
https://www.cooksinfo.com/byzantine-food

----------


## ratchet_fan

> See the following for Byzantine food.
> https://www.cooksinfo.com/byzantine-food


Thanks. That baklava claim could set off WW3 though

----------


## ratchet_fan

I think most food historian accept Turkish origin of baklava (and say it evolved from Central Asian pastries)> But I'm curious about similar dishes under the Byzantines and things like the roman placenta cake. I even read of Persian origins of baklava. In addition to Assyrian origins. I have no idea what to believe tbh.

https://junglejims.com/the-long-cont...ry-of-baklava/
http://persisuk.com/history
https://bodrumnyc.com/baklava-and-its-history/
https://www.honey.com/blog/honey-in-history-baklava
https://www.thefooddictator.com/hirs...achio-baklava/
https://ayblagrill.com/baklava-a-sweet-history/
https://www.196flavors.com/greece-baklava/

There's even theories of Assyrian origin.

"One version of the story claims that baklava origins to the mighty Assyrians, who had been preparing it as early as the 8th century B.C. by layering unleavened flat bread with chopped nuts in between, drenching it in honey and then baking it in primitive wood-burning ovens.

The modern day baklava went through a number of transitions as the history of the area kept on changing. Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean, Balkans, Caucasia; Turks, Arabs, Jews, Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians of today who introduce baklava as their national dessert, were all part of the Ottoman empire once.
It is said that ancient Greek seamen and merchants traveling to Mesopotamia soon discovered the delights of baklava.
They brought the recipe back to Greece and modified it slightly.
Their major contribution to the development of this pastry is the creation of a dough technique that made it possible to roll it as thin as a leaf, compared to the rough, bread-like texture of the Assyrian dough.
In fact, the name “Phyllo” was coined by Greeks, which means “leaf” in the Greek language."

https://greece.greekreporter.com/201...-over-origins/


I think borek has a similar contested history.

----------

