Gianniotiko from Ioannina (Γιαννιώτικο)

Gianniotiko belongs to Ioannina, in Epirus: kataifi on the bottom, walnuts in the middle, phyllo sheets on top, all baked slowly and syruped like a proper celebration sweet. The region is the dish's surname. This is not baklava with a new name. It is Ioannina's clever marriage of two pastries, one wiry and one sheeted.

The method that decides it is air. You loosen the kataifi with your fingers and lay it down lightly, then you butter the phyllo sheet by sheet above it. Press the base flat and the syrup has nowhere to go. Leave it open and the sweet drinks evenly, crisp on top, tender underneath, with walnuts held between.

I like this dish because it tells the truth about good Greek kitchens: nothing useful is wasted. A baker with kataifi threads, phyllo sheets, walnuts, and butter makes a tray that can feed a name day table. I don't invent it. I find it, I test it, I write it down, so the next cook can make it without guessing.