Bougatsa ( ) is a Greek breakfast food (sweet or savoury), or mid-morning snack, or midday snack. Bougatsa has several versions with their own filling, with the most popular the ''bougatsa krema'' (''bougatsa cream'') that has

semolina Semolina is the name given to roughly milled durum wheat mainly used in making pasta and sweet puddings. The term ''semolina'' is also used to designate coarse millings of other varieties of wheat, and sometimes other grains (such as rice or ma ...

custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with Eggs as food, egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in con ...

filling used as a sweet food and

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...

Origin

The name comes from the

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic; Greek: ) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the F ...

(pogátsa), from the ancient Roman ''pānis focācius'', literally "hearth bread"; ''cf.'' Italian ''

focaccia Focaccia is a Flatbread, flat leavening agent, leavened oven-baked Italian cuisine, Italian bread. In Rome, it is similar to a type of flatbread called (). Focaccia may be served as a side dish or as sandwich bread and it may be round, rectang ...

''. It may have had a classical origin in the Ancient Greek/Roman placenta cake. A similar dessert is still known as ''placenta'' () on the island of

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

in Greece. ''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. It originated in

Northern Greece Northern Greece () is used to refer to the northern parts of Greece, and can have various definitions. Administrative term The term "Northern Greece" is widely used to refer mainly to the two northern regions of Macedonia and (Western) Thra ...

, in particular the city of

Serres Serres ( ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northern Greece. The c ...

and city of

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

. 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 Veria (; ), officially transliterated Veroia, historically also spelled Beroea or Berea, is a city in Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the regional unit of Imathia. It is located north-nor ...

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 Mizithra or myzithra ( ) is a Greek cuisine, Greek whey cheese or mixed cheese, milk-whey cheese from sheep milk, sheep or goats, or both.Rosemary Barron, Barron, Rosemary (1991). ''Flavors of Greece.'' William Morrow, It is sold both as a fresh ...

cheese (not sweet) but sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. Similarly to

, the ''bougatsa cream'' in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

is sweet and full of cream.

Preparation

Traditional Greek bougatsa is prepared from hand-made

phyllo Filo or phyllo is a very thin Leavening agent, unleavened dough used for making pastries such as baklava and ''börek'' in Middle Eastern cuisine, Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines. Filo-based pastries are made by layering many sheets of filo ...

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 a small plate. The ''bougatsa cream'' is filled with

; it is then cut into small pieces and served hot, topped with lightly dusted powdered icing sugar and/or

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...

. The bougatsa recipe parts are: preparing the custard filling; placing about 5 sheets of buttered phyllo pastry (also known as filo) in a baking dish; assembling the bougatsa; preheating the oven to the correct temperature and baking until the phyllo dough reaches the desired golden-brown crispness; cutting the bougatsa while still hot into small portions and serving. Most modern bougatsa is made with machine-made phyllo, but some cafes and

bakeries A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based baked goods made in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, Pastry, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as Coffeehouse, cafés, servi ...

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 being: * ''Bougatsa cream'', that has

, that is a sweet food and

* ''Bougatsa cheese'', with

feta Feta ( ; ) is a Greek brined white cheese made from sheep milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat milk. It is soft, with small or no holes, and no skin. Crumbly with a slightly grainy texture, it is formed into large blocks and aged in brin ...

cheese that is a savoury food * ''Bougatsa cheese'', with

cheese * ''Bougatsa

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

cream'', * ''Bougatsa

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

'', * ''Bougatsa

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

purée A purée (or mash) is cooked food, usually vegetables, fruits or legumes, that has been ground, pressed, blended or sieved to the consistency of a creamy paste or liquid. Purées of specific foods are often known by specific names, e.g., appl ...

'' * ''Bougatsa

spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to Central Asia, Central and Western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common vegetable consumed eit ...

'' * ''Bougatsa mix of

and

cheese'' * ''Βougatsa

minced meat Ground meat, called mince or minced meat outside North America, is meat finely chopped by a meat grinder or a chopping knife. A common type of ground meat is ground beef, but many other types of meats are prepared in a similar fashion, incl ...

'', usually a mix of beef and pork or beef and lamb

In popular culture

The process of making bougatsa by hand-made filo was featured on an episode of '' Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations'' filmed in Chania, Crete.

References

{{Pastries Breakfast dishes Custard desserts Greek desserts Greek pastries Greek Macedonian cuisine Stuffed dishes

Origin

Preparation

In popular culture

See also

References