Phyllo for savory Greek dishes?

[GreekGirlCooks]

I was looking in the food forum and I saw that someone made a remark that the phyllo in Greece used for sweet desserts like baklava is different than the phyllo used for savory dishes. I did notice while in Greece that the savory phyllo is thicker.

What is really the difference? Is savory phyllo homemade? Does it have different ingredients? Is it thicker on purpose? Finally, do you have a recipe?

I know on Crete some of the savory, handheld pies have a dough that is closer to a turnover dough than it is a phyllo. And yet the dish has the word "pita" in it. It was a greens-based handheld pie with no cheese and was spiced with cumin! The "phyllo" was really thick and I believe the pie was even fried.

 

[PemiKanavos]

Phyllo comes in various thicknesses. Usually the sweets will use the thin phyllo. While the savory dishes uses the thicker phyllo. That doesn’t mean that you can’t use the thinner phyllo in savory dishes. Only recently has the thicker phyllo come to America. Back in the day everyone only use the thinner phyllo. The thicker phyllo dough is called a xoriatiko phyllo, and kind of resembles the thickness of a handmade phyllo. So usually we stay away from using that phyllo thickness of delicate desserts.

 

[k_tsoukalas]

Pam, I never actually realized this even though I kind of observed it in the way people cook. I always grab the box out of convenience but I love homemade phyllo for my spanakopita and tiropita.

 

[ellinasgolfer0320]

I'm not really sure? Phyllo can be used however you want. For siropiasta (dishes made with syrup), you tend to see a really thin dough, but siropiasta are not the only sweet foods made with phyllo. Bougatsa is a sweet food made with phylo and it's usually thicker than what you might see with siropiasta. My guess is that the reason siropiasta is made with thin phyllo is because it absorbs the syrup quicker.