Lavash
Paper-thin unleavened flatbread, blistered and scored in the tradition of the hearth.
Step-by-step →Pastry · Geghard
GATA
Գաթա
Layered sweet bread with a buttery flour-and-sugar heart, scored in patterns before baking.
2 hours
Total time
Makes 2 rounds
Yield
5
Steps
Step by step
HOW IT IS MADE
- 01
Make the khoriz
Rub 150 g butter into the flour and sugar with your fingertips until it looks like damp sand, then fold in the walnuts. Chill.
- 02
Mix a soft dough
Work the remaining butter, sour cream, flour and a pinch of salt into a smooth dough. Rest it, covered, for an hour.
- 03
Roll, fill, fold
Roll the dough into a large round, spread the khoriz over half of it, fold, then roll again gently — this is what makes the layers.
- 04
Score the surface
Shape into a flat round, brush with egg yolk and draw a pattern with a fork: a sun, a wheel, a lattice. Every family keeps its own mark.
- 05
Bake until deep gold
Bake at 180°C for 35–40 minutes. Cool completely before cutting, or the filling runs.
At a glance
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Energy
- ≈ 410 kcal per slice
- Preparation
- 45 min + 1 h chilling
- Cooking
- 35 min baking
- Season
- All year, especially Candlemas (Trndez)
- Occasion
- Weddings, Easter, and the coin baked inside for New Year luck
Cook's notes
GET IT RIGHT
- Make the khoriz filling with cold butter rubbed into flour and sugar until sandy — melted butter leaks out.
- Chill the assembled gata 30 minutes before scoring; cold dough holds the pattern.
- Score only through the top layer, never to the filling.
- Brush twice with egg yolk for the deep lacquered colour.
Variations
Kata of Karabakh
Rolled into a spiral with layers of butter, flakier and less sweet.
Nazook
The same filling in a thinner rolled log, cut into diamonds before baking.
Questions
ASKED IN THE KITCHEN
Can I use sour cream in the dough?
Yes — matsun or sour cream gives the softest crumb and is common in Lori.
My filling burst through the top. Why?
The dough was rolled too thin or the filling too warm. Chill both and seal the edges well.
History & Culture
WHY THIS DISH
Gata is baked for pilgrimages and for Candlemas, and around the monasteries of Geghard and Garni it is still sold warm from tonirs at the roadside. Each village stamps its own pattern into the crust.
At New Year a coin is hidden inside: whoever finds it in their slice takes the year's luck. The custom, like the pastry, survives because it demands to be shared rather than eaten alone.
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