Güllaç

Güllaç is a Turkish dessert made with milk, rose water, pomegranate and a special kind of pastry. It is consumed especially during Ramadan.
Güllaç is considered by some as being the origin of baklava. 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.

History

Its first known mention is in a 14th-century book, Yinshan Zhenyao, a food and health manual written by Hu Sihui, a physician to the Mongol court of the Yuan dynasty. The book documents primarily Mongol and Turkic dishes that exhibit a limited amount of Chinese influence.
Recipes for güllaç wafers made by cooking batter made from egg whites and starch on a hot pan appeared in Ottoman Turkish cookbooks, such as. An Ottoman Turkish to English dictionary published in 1890 by British lexicographer James Redhouse described gulaj as "A sweet dish made with thin starch wafers, filled with clotted cream flavored with rosewater."
Güllaç was used for making Güllaç Lokması and Güllaç Baklavası, old Turkish desserts made during the Ottoman period in Turkey.

Etymology

Turkish "güllaç" is loaned from the Persian word گلانج. The earliest record of the word in a Turkic language dates back to 1477. It is first attested in the Persian-Turkish dictionary .
Güllaç refers to both the thin pastry used to make the dessert as well as the dessert itself.

''Güllaç'' wafers

Güllaç wafers, which are also referred as simply güllaç, are the pastry used to make güllaç, they are made by pouring batter onto a hot saj, the wafers are very thin and dry, and are traditionally only made during Ramadan.
The batter is typically made from starch, flour, and milk. They are circular in shape.

Use

In Lebanon, güllaç wafers are folded to envelope a cream filling and then deep fried, vendors initially imported the wafers from Syria and Turkey, but eventually began domestic production of alternatives.
In Palestinian cuisine, güllaç is cooked on a saj, but is filled with nuts or cheese.
In Tartus, Syria, the wafers are made similar to brik sheets by cooking a semolina-based batter on a hot pan, the wafers are filled with nuts or qishta and are then baked in samneh.