Bougatsa (
Greek: μπουγάτσα[buˈɣatsa]) is a Greek breakfast food (sweet or savoury), or mid-morning snack, or midday snack.[1][2][3] Bougatsa has several versions with their own filling, with the most popular the bougatsa krema (bougatsa cream) that has
semolinacustard filling uses as a sweet food and
dessert.
Origin
The name comes from the
Byzantine Greekπογάτσα (pogátsa), from the ancient Roman pānis focācius, literally "hearth bread"; cf. Italian focaccia.[4] It may have had a classical origin in the Ancient Greek/Roman
placenta cake. A similar dessert is still known as placenta (
Greek: πλατσέντα) on the island of
Lesbos in Greece.[5][6]Placenta is a type of pancake, made from two layers of dough, usually filled with cottage cheese. Sometimes chocolate or apples are used instead. The cake is covered with honey, before being baked.[7]
It was brought in the 20th century, in the early 1920s, by Greek refugees leaving
Constantinople when it was still belonged to the Greeks[8][9] to the region of
Northern Greece, particularly in the
Central Macedonia, the city of
Serres and city of
Thessaloniki. Today, bougatsa can be found in Greece in specialty shops called bougatsadika or bougatsopolia, selling bougatsa exclusively.
The taste of bougatsa varies between regions of Greece. For example, bougatsa cream in
Veria is very sweet and full of cream, while in Thessaloniki the bougatsa cream is crunchy and not that sweet, and in
Chania Crete the bougatsa cheese is made of local
mizithra cheese and sprinkled with sugar.
Preparation
Traditional Greek bougatsa is prepared from hand-made
phyllo dough wrapped around a filling. After it is baked about 30-35 minutes in the oven, it is cut into small pieces and served hot on small plate. The bougatsa cream is filled with
semolinacustard, it is then cut into small pieces and served hot is topped with lightly dusted powdered icing sugar and/or
cinnamon.
The bougatsa recipe parts are, preparing the custard filling, phyllo pastry also known as filo where place about 5 sheets of the buttered pastry in a baking dish, assembling the bougatsa, preheat oven to the correct temperature and bake thereafter until phyllo dough reaches the desired golden-brown crispnessit, cut the bougatsa hot into small portions and serve.[10]
Most modern bougatsa is made with machine-made phyllo, but some
cafes and
bakeries selling hand-made bougatsa still exist, especially in smaller towns and villages of Greece.
There are several bougatsa food versions which have their own filling, with the most known are:[11]
Βougatsa
minced meat,[21] usually a mix of beef and pork or beef and lamb
In popular culture
The city of
Serres achieved the record for the largest
puff pastry on 1 June 2008. It weighed 182.2 kg (402 lb), was 20 metres (66 ft) long, and was made by more than 40 bakers.[22]