Puff pastry seems to be related to the Greek phyllo and is used in a similar manner to create layered pastries. Puff pastry appears to have evolved from thin sheets of dough spread with olive oil to laminated dough with layers of butter.
The origin of modern puff pastry appears to be Spanish, perhaps through Arab or Moorish influences: the first known recipe of modern puff pastry (using butter or lard) appears in the Spanish. Puff pastry is abundantly used, particularly to make savoury game pies, and some Spanish commentators. Puff pastry appears to have had widespread use in Spain by the beginning of the 17th century. While traditionally ascribed to the French painter and cook Claude Lorrain, the story is spurious.