Bougatsa
Bougatsa is very popular in Greece, in particular Northern Greece around Thessaloniki.
Bougatsa originated back from the Byzantine time, in Constantinopole and it became very popular around Greece after the Greek-Turk war in 1922 and population exchange occurred between the two countries. Alot of Greek migrants based themselves in and around the villages of Serres (Northern Greece) and as such people from Serres introduced bougatsa to the rest of Greece. Bougatsa both savory and sweet has been a staple food in Serres, Thessaloniki and beyond for generations.
My parents are from villages in Serres, my mums family is what they call dopeie, that is they weren’t migrants but my dads family is originally from Asia Minor and they were part of the population exchange in the ‘20s.
Fast forward 40 years and my parents along with my aunty and uncle opened a bougatsatsidiko (a shop that makes bougatsa) in Athens. My mum was a gun at bougatsa, she was the cook and hers were amazing. The right balance of creamy and flaky, whether it was sweet with the velvety custard or the savory with the creamy feta, she would sell-out every day. She thought nothing of it, buttering up the layers of filo to create this beautiful dessert. Funny thing is it was never dessert for me growing up, that was reserved for the galaktoboureko, the fancier syrupy version, I grow up having this for breakfast or as a snack!
Mum never left me a recipe for this, she really didn’t need one. It was all how it felt and looked for her, she know the right balance of semolina, milk, sugar and butter, never too milky or too stiff, just the right silkiness in the custard, always very buttery and I distinctly remember her not adding any cornflour.
I have played around with many versions and various recipes and I feel that the one I have below is by far the closest I have come to my mums recipe.
Recipe
Bougatsa (Sweet)
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
Pastry
200g melted butter (unsalted)
14 fillo pastry sheets
Filling
1ltr full cream milk
170g castor sugar
130g semolina (fine)
50g butter
1/4ts salt
1ts vanilla extract
icing sugar (dusting)
ground cinnamon (dusting)
Directions
In a pot add milk, sugar, semolina and salt and stir over low heat
Continue stirring until mixture has thickened - this should take about 6-8 minutes
Once nice and thick, take off the heat, add butter and vanilla and stir it through. Set aside with cling film direct our the custard to prevent a skin forming. Put in the fridge to cool down
Pre-heat oven to 200° (190° fan-forced)
Melt butter and lightly grease a rectangular tray (I use a 30cm x 22cm dish)
Butter each fillo sheet individually and line the tray, one sheet vertical and one horizontally. Repeat for 7 fillo sheets making sure that the fillo hangs over the baking dish.
Take the cling film of the custard, which should be cool and thick, you might want to stir it a little if it’s too solid
Spread evenly over the fillo sheets
Butter the remaining fillo sheets individually and cover the custard with the fillo sheets
Cut the over hang fillo just to where it’s over the tray and fold in the edges to envelope the custard
Butter the top layer and the edges for extra crispiness
Lightly cut the top into the serving pieces, without touching the bottom
Bake for 45-50 minutes until it’s nice and golden
Let in cool, dust icing sugar and cinnamon
Hint: You can add 1 whole egg and 1 yolk (beaten) straight when the milk starts thichening but it needs to be tempered so it won’t curdle. It gives the custard a richer taste.
