Pestil is a traditional

dried fruit Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed prior to cooking or being eaten on its own. Drying may occur either naturally, by sun, through the use of industrial dehydrators, or by freeze drying. ...

pulp that is commonly produced in

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and known with different names such as bastegh or pastegh (), t'tu lavash (), qamar el deen, bestil, and fruit leather. Fruit leather is made from mechanically pulverizing fruit, then spreading it out to dry into a tough, yet flexible and edible material which can be kept preserved for several months in an airtight container. It is a popular dessert in

and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Pestil might be made with different types of fruit beside plums. Apples, apricots, pears, peaches and melons are popular choices.

Etymology and history

According to Robert Dankoff, the term ''bastik'', used in much of

including

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

, and Van, derives from

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

''pasteł'' (, "" / "fruit leather") which in turn derives from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

(, "pastille"). This word and the fruit leather it describes was first attested in Middle Armenian as պաստեղ (pasteġ) in the year 1227 AD. According to Turkish-Armenian linguist Nişanyan Sevan, ''pestil'' and ' are cognates and ''pastillo'' might have derived from Italian '. The dictionary asserts that the relationship between ''pestil'' and French '' pastille'' is ambiguous. The first Turkish attestation of the word is dated back to 1501 dictionary ''Câmiü'l-Fürs.'' The origins of ''pastegh'' may be traced back to the times where

was part of the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, i ...

, as the

Satrapy of Armenia The Satrapy of Armenia ( Old Persian: 𐎠𐎼𐎷𐎡𐎴 or 𐎠𐎼𐎷𐎡𐎴𐎹 ), a region controlled by the Orontid dynasty (570–201 BC), was one of the satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BC that later became an ...

Preparation

Armenia

To make Armenian ''pastegh'', grapes are pressed, and the juice is boiled with sugar and thickened with flour or cornstarch. This mixture is then spread evenly over heavy muslin sheets, about 1/8 inch thick, and left to dry overnight. The following day, the sheets are hung outdoors to finish drying. Once the fruit puree has dried, it is sprayed with water to facilitate easy removal from the muslin.

Levant

A traditional food similar to pestil called Malban (, not to be confused with jok malban, or,

Turkish delight Turkish delight, or lokum () is a family of confectionery, confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios, hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; traditional varieties are often fl ...

, which is also called malban) is prepared in the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

region, it is made by boiling grape juice (which is traditionally juiced by stomping on grapes),

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 ...

flour is added to the boiling grape juice, and finally nigella seeds are added to the mix, the resulting mix is shaped into a sheet of fruit leather. Malban is especially popular in the cities of

Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...

and

Homs Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is ...

, Hebron in particular produces large amounts of grapes annually, some of which are turned into malban if fresh grapes remain unsold.

Gallery

File:Pastegh.jpg, Armenian pastegh File:Cevizli sucuk and Pestil.jpg, Pestil in Turkey (upper left) File:Ttu lavash.png, Armenian rolled up pastegh File:Pestil Yapımı.jpg, Preperation of pestil in Turkey

References

External links

{{Turkish cuisine Armenian desserts Greek desserts Turkish desserts Fruit dishes