Güllaç (pronounced ) is a
Turkish dessert
Turkish cuisine () is the cuisine of Turkey and the Turkish diaspora. It is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Mediterranean, Balkan, Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Eastern Europea ...
made with
milk,
pomegranate and a special kind of pastry.
It is consumed especially during
Ramadan
, type = islam
, longtype = Religious
, image = Ramadan montage.jpg
, caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...
.
Güllaç is considered by some as being the origin of
baklava
Baklava (, or ; ota, باقلوا ) is a layered pastry dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey. It was one of the most popular sweet pastries of Ottoman cuisine.
The pre- Ottoman origin of the ...
.
The similarities between the two desserts are many, such as the use of thin layers of dough and nuts in between. Güllaç dough is now prepared with corn starch and wheat flour, although originally it was made only with wheat starch. Güllaç contains walnuts between the layers that are put in milk.
Its first known mention is in a 14th-century book, ''Yinshan Zhenyao'' (), a food and health manual written by
Hu Sihui (), a physician to the Mongol court of the
Yuan dynasty. The book documents primarily Mongol and Turkic dishes that exhibit a limited amount of Chinese influence.
Güllaç was used for making ''Güllaç Lokması'' and ''Güllaç Baklavası'', old Turkish desserts made during the
Ottoman period in Turkey.
Etymology
Turkish ''"güllaç"'' is thought to be loaned from the
Persian word گلانج (''gulanc''). The earliest record of the word in a Turkic language dates back to 1477. It is first attested in the Persian-Turkish dictionary '.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gullac
Turkish words and phrases
Turkish pastries
Fruit dishes
