Northwestern Pogaca
Manchev's take on a coiled festive bread. In the book the recipe is titled 'Pogaca from Northern Bulgaria' (Погача от Северна България). Timing icons on the page: 150 min, 10 portions, difficulty 4/5. Bread is the staple and most important food of Bulgarians; highly respected through the ages across our lands, it marked the meaning of festive menus, the festive pites and especially the banitsa. For example in 1891 the author of a cookbook A. Ilkov, a friend in Derekyovo from Tsarigrad (Constantinople), reports that here, as in the southernmost Bulgarian villages, 'the village bread will host you and something doughy, kneaded with butter and cheese.'
⏱️ Prep: 150 min
Ingredients
| 1 kg | flour | |
| 3 | eggs | |
| 3 | egg yolks | |
| 3 tbsp | 45 ml | yogurt |
| 100 ml | fresh milk | |
| 2 packets | dry yeast | |
| 2 tsp | 10 ml | salt |
| 1 tsp | 5 ml | sugar |
| 2 tbsp | 30 ml | oil |
| 50 g | butter | |
| — | warm water (150–200 ml) |
Instructions
- Warm the fresh milk and dissolve the yeast in it. Sift the flour and make a well, into which you put the three eggs, the yogurt, the yeast, the salt, the sugar, the oil and about 150–200 ml warm water. Knead a soft dough. Divide it into three equal parts and shape them into balls. Brush them with oil and place them in separate bowls to rise in a warm place for at least 25–30 minutes, covered with a cotton cloth.
- Dust the three risen balls one by one with a little more flour. Roll out each of them into an oval shape 0.5 cm thick.
- Brush the first part with melted butter, place the second on top of it, brush again with melted butter and place the third. Roll from the middle and coil into a roll. Cut into pieces 5 cm thick and arrange them upright in a baking tin in the shape of a rose. Brush the top with the beaten yolk and leave to rise for another 20 minutes.
- Bake at 180°C for half an hour until a golden crust forms. Sprinkle the finished pogaca with water and cover with a cloth. Serve with butter and colorful salt (sharena sol) or with honey.