The bougatsa prevailed in Greece after the Asia Minor disaster. In particular, it was naturalized as “made in Serres” and “Made in Thessaloniki”, as numerous refugees from Asia Minor were housed in Northern Greece. Etymologically, bougatsa or bogatsa is a corruption of the Ottoman word “pogatsa” which means a cheese-filled pie or a cream-filled pie sprinkled with powdered sugar. In the Ottoman dictionaries, “pogatsa” is a mispronunciation of the Italian word “foccacia” which means sweet pie. Well-known citizen bougatsa craftsmen who brought the art to the Greek area were: Diamantis Fengariotis, Stavros Stavridis who was also an expert in “peinirli”, Kostantinos Karyofyllis, who started in 1919 to prepare and sell bougatsa as a street seller and in 1947 opened his shop called “Anoteron”.
In the process of making bougatsa, having the perfect sheet is a very important factor. To make a sheet, it requires good quality flour and oil. The sheet of the bougatsa is spread by hand and requires great skill and passion. After the dough is ready, it is divided into small round balls, which are smeared with oil and left for a few hours to rise and double in size. From a small ball of dough, the craftsman, thanks to his skill, creates the perfect sheet. First he opens a sheet the size of the pie, then starts tossing it in the air by lifting it from the counter, 3–7 times for each sheet, until it becomes thin and has the desired dimensions.
Congratulation!