Baklava is a pastry made of thin sheets of crispy dough filled with walnuts, spices, sugar, honey, and the like. Quantity wise, most of the Baklava is comprised of the walnut filling as opposed to the dough which is very little and filled with pockets of air. Wafers are likewise thin, baked sheets of dough with chocolate or lemon filling spread between the sheets. The topic we will be discussing in the coming days is the appropriate blessing, both before and after eating, when eating these pastries.
Primary and Secondary Foods When Dealing With a Grain Mixture
We have already explained in the past that when a food is made of several different ingredients with various different blessings, the blessing on the food is determined based on the primary food it contains. Therefore, if one is eating grape leaves filled with rice, one must recite the “Boreh Minei Mezonot” blessing since the rice is the primary food and not the leaves surrounding it which are merely secondary to the rice.
However, we have also explained that this only applies when dealing with two regular foods. However, when a grain derivative, such as flour or bread crumbs, is mixed into the food, the blessing on such a food will always be that of the grain ingredient, for the five types of grains have a unique importance in that they are satiating and bread can be made out of them. Thus, they are always considered to be the primary food in the mixture.
The Blessing on Baklava and Wafers
Based on the above we can infer that the appropriate blessing on thin sheets of dough filled with walnuts (Baklava) is “Boreh Minei Mezonot” and not “Boreh Peri Ha’etz” although the walnuts seem to be the primary ingredient of this pastry since the sheets of dough are a grain derivative. The same applies to cheese or potato bourekas. Similarly, sheets of wafer dough coated with chocolate or lemon filling likewise require the “Boreh Minei Mezonot” blessing without a doubt since it is well-known that the sheets of dough add quite a good taste to the wafer.
The Blessing on Cheese Cake
Similarly, a cheese cake which has some flour mixed into it and the flour is meant to add good flavor to the cake (or if the cake is made with a tasty pie crust) requires a “Boreh Minei Mezonot” blessing even if the flour is smaller in quantity relative to the other ingredients of the cake.
When Flour is Added But Not for Flavoring
We must point out though that the law that grain derivatives are always considered the primary food only applies when the grain is meant to add flavor to the food. However, if the grain is added only to stabilize the food or to bind the different ingredients of the food together, the grain is not considered primary and the food or dish requires the appropriate blessing.
This law is derived from the Gemara (Berachot 37b) which states that when flour is added to a food only for binding purposes, the “Boreh Minei Mezonot” is not recited. Maran Ha’Shulchan Aruch (Chapter 208) rules likewise.
Based on this, we can infer that the blessing on cakes made out of eggs, sugar, oil, and the like where a small amount of flour is added to the batter (such as one tablespoon for the entire cake) and is not intended to add flavor and is merely meant to add a stable shape to the cake is “Shehakol Nihya Bidvaro” since the primary ingredients of such cakes are the sugar and eggs and since the flour is only added for binding purposes, it cannot be considered the primary ingredient of the cake.
The same applies to meringues made out of egg whites and sugar in that although some flour may sometimes be added to the batter, nevertheless, they require the “Shehakol Nihya Bidvaro” blessing. The Rambam (Chapter 3 of Hilchot Berachot) rules likewise and writes that as long as the grain product was added to the mixture strictly for binding purposes, the “Boreh Minei Mezonot” blessing should not be recited upon the food. He adds that the same is true if the grain product was added to the food in order to add color or smell, for as long as it was not added in order to add flavor, it is not considered the primary ingredient and the “Boreh Minei Mezonot” blessing should not be recited on this food.
In the next Halachot, we shall discuss several other points related to this issue.
