Baklava, now found at well-stocked grocery stores in the United States and Europe, is a must-have for Christmas and other festivities in the Middle East. But where can you taste it at its best? The kind that is flaky yet melts in your mouth, the kind that does not overwhelm with its sweetness, the kind that has enticing flavors to awaken all your senses? The kind that never uses honey or any other kind of nut but pistachios, mesmerizing with its 30-35 hand-rolled layers of dough, purified butter sprayed across each layer no heavier than an ant’s feet?

Culinary experts agree that Gaziantep produces the finest examples of Turkish sweets, and baklava is only one of the tantalizing tastes of Gaziantep. There are the sobiyet, havuc dilimi, bulbul yuvasi, fistikli dolama and kare baklava, just to name a few types, all made with almost exactly the same ingredients by the city's baklava masters, producing an orgasmic culinary experience with each version of the desserts.

On Dec. 11, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova announced the inclusion of Gaziantep in the UNESCO Creative Cities network, in the field of gastronomy. The recognition is based upon the cities’ use of “creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable development.” On Dec. 18, the news broke that Gaziantep has also been recognized as one of the European Destinations of Excellence in 2015. This year's theme is tourism and local gastronomy.

Everyone involved in the two competitions praised the determination of Mayor Fatma Sahin and her team. Sahin explained that the process took over 20 months of professional preparation.