Saç arası is a traditional Turkish dessert made of thin dough filled with cream filling and nuts, rolled into a spiral, and drenched in sugar syrup. Saç arası is probably the most famous dessert of the Anatolian city of Konya.
The basis of success is dough that must be elastic and capable of being stretched to translucent thinness. Vinegar and yogurt play a key role in the recipe. While yogurt adds suppleness and a mild milky acidity to the dough, vinegar is an old confectioner’s trick that breaks down gluten and ensures that the dough will be brittle and flaky after baking. Kaymak (thick cream) is traditionally used as a filling. It partially soaks into the dough and partially caramelizes during baking.
Walnuts or pistachios then act as a counterpoint to the sweet syrup and fatty cream, adding the necessary crunch, which differs from the crunch of the baked dough. The syrup is a classic mixture of water and sugar with lemon, which softens the dessert.
Confectioners use special stoves equipped with an automatic rotation system to prepare saç arası. Round metal dishes with the dessert are placed on a burner that rotates smoothly on its own. Thanks to this mechanism, the intense flame reaches every piece of dough evenly, from the center to the edges, without burning anything.
Once the bottom side is golden roasted and crispy, the moment comes when a human hand must intervene. The cook covers the dessert with a spatula and flips everything 180 degrees with a quick move so that the raw top side gets to the bottom on the hot metal. During this flipping, flames almost always flare up, licking the edge of the tray. Clarified butter burns, often dripping into the fire during the flip.
Saç arası is served hot, freshly prepared. It is eaten with a fork, but in an informal setting, no one will be offended if you take a piece in your hand.
I had the honor of tasting real saç arası prepared by this method right in its homeland, in the city of Konya. I chose the specialized establishment Karamanoğlu Tatlıpark (see Where to Eat in Konya). The taste was phenomenal, so much so that I had to return the next day. One saç arası filled with pistachios cost 200 TRY (4.80 EUR) here.
Bon appétit!
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