Azra’s story

Azra is a passionate cook and baker who shares her culinary history of Mediterranean cuisine for over 25 years in the Dayton area. Following 20 years in journalism in Bosnia and Croatia, she came to the United States and opened Azra’s Mediterranean Cuisine at the 2nd Street Market in Dayton. Soon Azra’s became one of the most popular spots in town. For more than a decade, Azra has been featured in cooking and baking demos on local Dayton TV stations. Her culinary creations have received many awards at Dayton area festivals and events, including her baklava, which was named one of the Ten Most Beautiful Things in Dayton, and a mention in National Geographic magazine.

Azra takes great pride in the long history of her family’s baklava recipe: dating back generations in Europe, her family has been making the same recipe of one of the world’s most famous desserts. This baklava recipe includes the flavors we all know and love: layers of nutty, buttery, golden flaky phyllo with honey syrup, a little touch of lemon and warm spices. From her early childhood, Azra learned from her mother and grandmother how to cook and bake with love of tradition. She learned that every family dish has a story and comes loaded with memories. Sundays and holidays were filled with her mom and grandma gathered around the kitchen table.  They would spread a long, clean tablecloth over that same table and make phyllo dough for spinach pie, strudel and baklava. Phyllo dough stretched by hand, large enough to cover the whole tablecloth and without any holes, was made just thin enough for the perfect baklava. Next, Azra learned how to make the delicious baklava filling, spiced and drizzled with honey sugar syrup.

 
A life long learner, Azra also loves taking cooking classes herself on her holidays in Europe. She teaches her own cooking classes in Dayton, and loves making her classes fun, hands-on, and uses recipes that bring her traditions and history into the homes of her students. She adds her personal touch to traditional dishes and textures in her homemade food.