WALNUT GATA recipe.... where art thou??!!

[Ecumenist]

I have been tearing my hair out looking for what seems to be a mysterious and hidden recipe for something called walnut gata. These are little pastries that have their origin in Armenian cuisine and DH simply adores them. There has to be a recipe for them somewhere... Help, oh help me please...

Love and kisses,
Ecumenist

[grasswire]

1. is it a bread or a cake?

There's a gata recipe at this link, but it is a sweet bread

http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/holiday/pageant/sweets/pastry.html

[babylonsister]

2. Also known as Armenian Christmas Pastry?

I guess you could just add walnuts to the filling... This does resemble baklava imo.

http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/holiday/pageant/sweets/pastry.html

Armenian Christmas Pastry

Makes 24 pieces
Preparation time: 30 minutes plus overnight refrigeration
Cooking time: 20 to 30 minutes


Armenian Christmas Pastry 1 package or 1 tablespoon dry yeast
1 cup sour cream
1 cup unsalted butter or margarine
1 egg
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour plus
1/2 cup flour for kneading

Filling:
1 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Glaze:
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 teaspoon yogurt


1. In a mixing bowl, combine the yeast with 1 cup sour cream; set aside for 10 minutes.

2. Add butter and mix well.

3. Add the egg, oil, and vinegar and mix well.

4. Add the sifted flour gradually and continue mixing.

5. Knead dough for about 15 minutes until smooth and firm so that it does not stick to your hands.

6. Gather dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough overnight.

7. To make the filling, mix together 1 cup of the melted butter and 2 cups flour. Add 1-1/4 cups sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; stir constantly for 1 minute, so that the mixture does not stick to your hands and becomes smooth and even. Set aside.

8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

9. Remove dough from the refrigerator; divide it into 8 equal balls. Place each ball on a lightly floured board.

10. Roll each ball out to a rectangle measuring 10-by-6 inches, or as thin as possible with the aid of rolling pin. Paint each rectangle with melted butter.

11. Spread 1/4 cup filling into the center of each rectangle and roll out the filling over it with the aid of a rolling pin.

12. Fold in about 1/2 inch of the rectangle on each side.

13. Roll up dough into a cylinder.

14. Place rolling pin on pastry roll and flatten slightly lengthwise. Cut the roll diagonally with a sharp knife or serrated knife into 2-inch equal slices.

15. Place pastry about 2 inches apart on a lightly floured baking pan. (Be careful not to spill out any filling.)

16. Paint the surface of each pastry with the glaze (mixture of beaten egg and brown.

17. Place baking pan in the oven and bake for 15 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

18. Remove the baking pan from oven and allow the pastries to cool. Nush-e Jan!

This is an excellent pastry, to be served during a morning coffee break or for afternoon tea. This pastry can also be made in different shapes and without the filling. In this case, roll out the dough to its maximum size and as thin as possible. Brush the surface with melted butter. Fold the dough in half and brush the surface with butter; fold in half again. Fold it into your desired shape, round or rectangular, then brush the top with egg-yolk glaze. It is also sometimes called gata or ketah.

My friend Seda gave me this recipe.

Note: Chiffon sweet margarine works quite well for this recipe.


From:

New Food Of Life
by Najmieh Batmanglij
Photographs by Serge
Cover Max Hirschfeld
$44.95 (hardback)
Mage Publishers
ISBN: 0-934211-34-5
Recipe reprinted by permission.

************************

http://www.tacentral.com/dining.asp?story_no=1

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Desserts

Unlike other cultures, which bring courses on one at a time, Armenians tend to make the first impact with appetizers and salads already set on the table, and then begin piling on soup and hot courses. And the desserts will be prominently displayed near the main table before guests arrive.

The dessert course always includes fresh fruit, which is peeled and sliced into quarters at the table. In season, none of the fruits are to be missed, even in the winter apples, pears and grapes continue to be tasty.

Special desserts include cake (tort, TORT), each woman of the house priding herself on her own special recipe. Often loaded with walnuts, fruit, chocolate and mounds of icing or meringue, the cakes are about the largest desserts we have ever seen, making seven layer cakes look like pigmies. Cakes can be made with cream centers, in thin layers with icing layered between, with fresh or candied fruit on top, or in any variation the cook prefers.

Traditional desserts are much as they are in Greece, creating huge debates between nationalities on their origins (along with dolma). The Armenians seem to be winning, since walnut is native to Armenia, and not to Greece. Armenian versions of baklava (layers of thin pastry filled with honey and nuts), fritters with honey or syrup, kataifi (chopped nuts inside shredded wheat soaked in honey), halvah (sesame seed paste) and rice pudding are all traditional desserts. Others are gata, a long oblong pastry, and delicate fruit-filled tortes.

A favorite in summertime is paghpaghak (pagh-pagh-AHK, ice cream), that comes in many varieties and tastes. The imported stuff is a waste of money, since it is months old and costs $1-3 a bar. Local ice cream includes Shant and Tamara, both made in local dairies using whole cream and the latest technology, served in cups or bars, in chocolate, fruits, and hazelnut flavor, packed in recyclable wrapping. At 80-250 AMD each, you can afford to have seconds!

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