Bougatsa
Encyclopedia
Pastry
Pastry is the name given to various kinds of baked products made from ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder and/or eggs. Small cakes, tarts and other sweet baked products are called "pastries."...
consisting of custard
Custard
Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on a cooked mixture of milk or cream and egg yolk. Depending on how much egg or thickener is used, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce , to a thick pastry cream used to fill éclairs. The most common custards are used as...
, cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
, or minced meat filling between layers of phyllo
Phyllo
Phyllo, filo, or fillo dough is paper-thin sheets of unleavened flour dough used for making pastries in Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisine.-History:An early, thick form of phyllo appears to be of Central Asian Turkic origin...
.
Origin
In Greece, it is said to originate in the MacedoniaMacedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
region of northern Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and is especially popular in the northern Greek port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
. Bougatsa is also served in Chania
Chania
Chaniá , , also transliterated Chania, Hania, and Xania, older form Chanea and Venetian Canea, Ottoman Turkish خانيه Hanya) is the second largest city of Crete and the capital of the Chania peripheral unit...
and Iraklion, Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
. In Chania, it is called "bougatsa Chanion" and is made by special pastry shops usually open from the very early morning till noon. It is always savory, usually made with myzithra cheese, often cut in small square pieces and served with sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
. In Iraklion, the most famous is made by shops on Morosini Square, by the descendants of Armenian refugees from Asia Minor.
Preparation
Traditional Greek bougatsa is prepared by stretching and rolling phyllo dough as thin as possible, to the point that it is transparentTransparency and translucency
In the field of optics, transparency is the physical property of allowing light to pass through a material; translucency only allows light to pass through diffusely. The opposite property is opacity...
, by hand or with a rolling pin
Rolling pin
thumb|A wooden "roller" type rolling pinA rolling pin is a cylindrical food preparation utensil used to shape and flatten dough. Two styles of rolling pins are found; roller and rods. Roller types consists of a thick cylindrical roller with small handles at each end; rod type rolling pins are...
. Filling, usually cream, is then added and the phyllo is wrapped around it. After it is baked, it is dusted with a layer of sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
, sliced, and served fresh.
Today, most modern sellers of bougatsa make it with the help of machines because the traditional process is so labor intensive. However, cafes and bakeries selling hand-made bougatsa still exist, especially in smaller towns and villages of Greece.
Trivia
The town of SerresSerres
Serres is a city in Greece, seat of the Serres prefecture.Serres may also refer to:Places:* Serres, Germany, a part of Wiernsheim in Baden-WürttembergIn France:* Serres, Aude in the Aude département...
achieved the record for the largest bougatsa on 1 June 2008. It weighed 250 kilos, was 20 metres long, 60 centimetres thick and was made by more than 40 bakers.
The process of making bougatsa by hand was featured on an episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, which was filmed in Greece.
See also
- PogačaPogacaPogačice is a type of puff pastry. Pogača, Poğaça, Pogácsa or Pogacha is a type of pastry eaten in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Hungary, Greece and Turkey with variations...
- Tyropita, a pie made with cheese
- Banitsa, a similar pie from BulgariaBulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...