Editor’s note: This article has been updated since its original publication to correct the product’s name (it does not currently have a business name) and to clarify that the baklava is only available during pop-ups.
When Beth Al Makhzom immigrated from Syria to Jordan then to the United States in 2016, she brought not only her baklava recipe but her passion for cooking.
After she and her six children got settled in Baton Rouge, she realized she needed a way to make money to help support her family. As she started making friends and sharing her baklava, it struck a chord with people.
“They tasted her baklava,” her daughter Asmaa Al Mahkzom says, “and they asked her if she would be willing to sell it.”
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The sticky-sweet pastry includes layers of honey-sweetened phyllo dough stuffed with chopped pistachios and other nuts. The dessert is special in the Middle East, and that’s what makes it special to her, Asmaa says. It also takes a lot of time to make.
“When someone finds a person with a good baklava recipe,” Asmaa says, “it saves them time, and they’re willing to pay for it. And homemade is always better than something mass produced.”
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Beth works out of her home to create her homemade sweets. When it’s requested, she also makes and sells other traditional dishes, such as breads, grape leaves, rice dishes and handmade jewelry. She mainly sells her baklava and other trinkets at The Hope Shop—next to the Market at Circa 1857—but she also supplies her dishes and sweets to small parties.
“Anything that people want her to make, she’ll make,” Asmaa says. “She’s happy to have satisfied customers. Customers liking her product encourages her to work more. When they place orders, she finds the time to get it done.”
You can find Beth’s products when they pop up at the newly opened The Hope Shop in Baton Rouge at 1857 Government St. Follow the The Hope Shop for announcements about baklava availability.