Pogača

Pogača

Origin
Alternative name(s)	Pogacha
Place of origin	Balkans, Hungary, Turkey
Details
Type	Bread
Main ingredient(s)	White flour or whole-wheat flour, usually yeast, Egg, Butter
Variations	Karaköy
Approximate calories per serving	196kcal per 45 gr

The Pogača or Pogacha (Hungarian: Pogácsa, Greek: Μπουγάτσα, Cyrillic: погача, Turkish: poğaça, Albanian: pogaçe) is a type of bread baked in the ashes of the fireplace, and later on in the oven, similar to focaccia, with which it shares the name (through Byzantine Greek: Πογάτσα), found in the cuisines of the Balkans, Hungary and Turkey. It can be leavened or unleavened, but only experienced cooks can make good quality unleavened pogača, while the pastry with yeast is easier to make. It can also be made from white flour, whole-wheat flour, and a mix of two thirds to three quarters of wheat flour and the rest either barley, or (less frequently) rye. It can have potatoes or cheese inside and it also have some grains and herbs like sesame, black sesame, dried dill mixed with its flour.

Terminology

Traditional Bulgarian Pogacha

The word derives ultimately from the Latin panis focacius, i.e. bread (panis) baked on the hearth or fireplace (focus), via the Italian focaccia and, more directly, south Slavic languages (cf. pogača / погача).

It also called as pogačice (diminutive form), is a type of puff pastry eaten in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Hungary (pogácsa) and Turkey (where it is called poğaça) with variations like karaköy and kumru. It is called pogatschen in Austria, and pagáče in Slovakia.

The pastry

Serbian Pogaca

Every place makes its own version, or more than one variety, and so they come in all different textures and flavors across the country. Some pogača are only one inch around and one inch high; others are much larger. Some have a crumbly scone-like consistency inside, while others are more tender like a fresh dinner roll or croissant. More specifically, in Hungary this snack food or meal item is typically 3 to 10 cm in diameter, though they range in size from the smaller, crispier scones-like "buttons" through to the larger fluffier versions. One Debrecen variety is a foot in diameter, probably the world's largest biscuit that is commonly made. They are traditionally eaten alone as a snack or, especially bigger ones, with a stew such as goulash.

Home-made Hungarian Pogácsa

Pogácsa in Hungary are made from either short dough or yeast dough. As with scones and biscuits, eggs and butter are common ingredients, as is milk, cream or sour cream. Many traditional versions exists, with size, shape—the most common is round—and flavor variations in each region/city of Hungary.

A dozen different ingredients can be found either in the dough, sprinkled on top before baking, or both: medium-firm fresh cheeses, aged dry hard cheese(s), pork crackling (tepertő), cabbage, black pepper, hot or sweet paprika, garlic, red onion, caraway seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds or poppy seeds.

Pogača is sometimes served hot as an appetizer and/or bread. Hot pogača filled with sour cream (or curd and feta cheese in Turkey and Bulgaria) is considered a particularly delicious specialty.

See also

• Fatayer
• Kumru (sandwich)
• Bougatsa
• Focaccia
• Pirozhki
• Karelian pasty
• Khachapuri
• Vatrushka
• Nokul
• List of pastries

External links

• http://www.completerecipes.com/87670.htm
• http://balkan-cuisine.com/2009/07/macedonian-pogacha-rich-bread.html
• Recepti za pogace
• Pogača
• Roll Bread
• Pogača