Güllaç (pronounced ) is a Turkish dessert made with

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

, rose water,

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punica, Punicoideae, that grows between tall. Rich in symbolic and mythological associations in many cultures, it is thought to have o ...

and a special kind of pastry. It is consumed especially during

Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

. Güllaç is considered by some as being the origin of

baklava Baklava (, or ; ) 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. There are several theories for the origin of th ...

. The similarities between the two desserts are many, such as the use of thin layers of dough. 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 Hu Sihui (, 和斯輝, 忽斯慧, also Hu Zheng Qi Huei; active nr. 1314–1330) was a Chinese court therapist and dietitian during Yuan dynasty. He is known for his book '' Yinshan zhengyao'' (''Dietary Principles''), that became a classic in C ...

(), a physician to the Mongol court of the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

. 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 Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

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 desserts Pomegranate dishes Baklava Walnut desserts