Pogača (; ) is a type of bread baked in the ashes of the fireplace, and later in modern ovens. Found in the cuisines of the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

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 ...

, Turkish and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

it can be leavened or unleavened, though the latter is considered more challenging to make. It is generally made from

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

, but

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

and sometimes

rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...

may be added. It can be stuffed with potatoes, ground beef, olive, or cheese, and have grains and herbs like sesame, black nigella seed, or dried dill in the dough or sprinkled on top.

Terminology

The word derives ultimately from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

', i.e. bread (') baked on the hearth or fireplace ('), via 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 ...

πογάτσα (pogátsa), thence entering the

South Slavic languages The South Slavic languages are one of three branches of the Slavic languages. There are approximately 30 million speakers, mainly in the Balkans. These are separated geographically from speakers of the other two Slavic branches (West Slavic la ...

as ''pogača'' / погача. A variant is known as ''pogačice'' (diminutive form), a type of

puff pastry Puff pastry, also known as , is a light, flaky pastry, its base dough () composed of wheat flour and water. Butter or other solid fat () is then layered into the dough. The dough is repeatedly rolled and folded, rested, re-rolled and folded, encas ...

eaten in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

, 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 ...

(where it is called poğaça) with variations like ''karaköy''. It is called ''pogatschen'' in Austria, and ''pagáče'' in Slovakia. It is known by similar names in other languages: pogácsa ( Hungarian), pogace ( Romanian), '', Bulgarian, Macedonian and

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: , , or ' . Belokranjska pogaca

The pastry

Different localities make slightly different varieties of pogača, and thus there is a wide variety of textures and flavors. Some may be just an inch in diameter; others are much larger. Others have a crumbly

scone A scone ( or ) is a traditional British and Irish baked good, popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is usually made of either wheat flour or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often ...

-like consistency inside, while others are more tender like a fresh dinner roll or croissant. In

it is considered to be a cultural specialty and a Hungarikum. It evolved from small flat breads. Although the pastry was adopted from the Turks, many of its variations, such as the pork rind pogácsa (tepertős pogácsa), were born in Hungary and have been a popular dish since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. Popular flavours include potato, cheese, pork crackling,

tejföl Smetana is the English-language name for the different types of sour cream traditionally prevalent in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, and Central Asia. It is a dairy product produced by souring heavy cream. It is similar to '' crè ...

túró Quark or quarg is a type of fresh dairy product made from milk. The milk is souring, soured, usually by adding lactic acid bacteria cultures, and strained once the desired curdling is achieved. It can be classified as Fresh cheese, fres ...

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

, juhtúró, garlic and woodgarlic,

Poppy seed Poppy seed is an oilseed obtained from the poppy plant (''Papaver somniferum''). The tiny, kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years. It is still widely used in many countries, ...

(mákos pogácsa), paprika (paprikás pogácsa), pumpkin seed, ramson and cabbage. The cookbook of the Hungarian Piarist monk Kristóf Simai, written in Selmecbánya between 1795 and 1799, contains a wide variety of other pogácsas such as the honey pogácsa, butter pogácsa, spicy scones and chocolate scones. In Hungary ''boszorkánypogácsa'' (witches' pogácsa) is also popular, a small, sweet, usually blueberry- or peach- jam or vanilla filled biscuit. In

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

and

Turkish cuisine Turkish cuisine () is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, Ottoman cuisine (Osmanlı mutfağı), European influences, Seljuk Empire, Seljuk cuisine and the Turkish diaspora. Turkish cuisine with traditional Turkic peoples, Turkic elements s ...

, ''poğaça'' can be filled with beyaz peynir (white cheese), or other fillings like black olives, potatoes, onions or ground beef.

Festive Use

the pastry is commonly used during celebrations, served as an appetizer or side dish, but it also has a role in the holidays. On Old Year's Day, a so-called ''tollaspogácsa'' was made, and it was customary to ritually stir a feather into each piece before baking. This was then used as a

fortune-telling Fortune telling is the spiritual practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115–116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle ...

tool. Before baking, each family member chooses a feather to knead into the dough. If the feather hidden in the biscuit is burnt by the time the tollaspogácsa is baked, they are said not to live the occasion next year. In other places the ritual is held on January 25th (Pálforduló - Feast of Paul's conversion) so the dish is often called ''pálpogácsa,'' named after the saint.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pogaca Turkish cuisine Bosnia and Herzegovina cuisine Bulgarian cuisine Croatian cuisine Serbian cuisine Slovenian cuisine Yeast breads Unleavened breads Flatbreads Appetizers Hungarian cuisine Slovak cuisine Stuffed dishes Turkish tea culture Albanian cuisine Romani cuisine Kosovan cuisine

Terminology

The pastry

Festive Use

See also

References

External links