Name: Kırk Fırın Kaşmir Center
Address: Göksu, 1. TBMM Cd. No:9, Etimesgut, Ankara, 06820, TR
Telephone: (0312) 257 04 40
Price range: €€€
Rating: 4.2

Türkiye

Turkey

Ankara

Etimesgut

Kırk Fırın Kaşmir Center

Sheets of dried starch pastry as thin as paper, softened one by one in warm sweetened milk scented with rose water, layered with ground walnuts and finished with pomegranate seeds: güllaç is the Ramadan dessert of Istanbul, eaten after iftar in the weeks when the pastry appears in every grocer, and almost nowhere the rest of the year. The name is usually explained as güllü aş, rose food, and the dish is older than baklava in the Ottoman record; a version is described in the fourteenth-century Chinese dietary manual written for the Mongol court, and it was served at the circumcision feast of Süleyman's sons in 1539. The pastry itself, a batter of wheat starch and water dried into translucent rounds, is made by a handful of Istanbul producers, and the dessert's whole character comes from how long those sheets sit in milk.

The milk is warmed with sugar until dissolved, never boiled, and flavoured with rose water or a little vanilla; some cooks add a spoon of cream. A sheet of güllaç is laid in a wide tray, shiny side up, and warm milk is ladled over until it goes limp and transparent, which takes seconds; the next sheet goes on, and the process repeats, with a layer of ground walnuts or hazelnuts, sometimes pistachio, in the middle and again near the top. Eight to twelve sheets is usual. The last sheet is folded under to make a neat edge, the remaining milk is poured over, and the tray rests in the refrigerator for a few hours so the layers set into a soft, sliceable mass. It is cut into squares and decorated with pomegranate seeds, chopped pistachio and sometimes a strawberry or a dusting of coconut. It is served cold and eaten the same day, because the pastry keeps absorbing milk and turns to paste by the next.

Judge the texture first: a good square should be soft and slightly elastic, with the layers still distinguishable when cut, bathed in milk but not swimming, and the top sheet should be intact, not torn. The milk should taste of milk and rose, lightly sweet, with the walnuts giving crunch between the soft layers. Mark down a tray that has collapsed into a uniform mush, which means it was made too early or with too much liquid; dry, crackling edges, which means too little; rose water used so heavily it tastes of soap; cream so thick it turns the dish into a pudding; and pomegranate that is tinned or absent in season. The portion should be modest and cold. A güllaç served outside Ramadan is a curiosity, not a fault, but it should be made that day.

Güllaç

Daha önce yaşadığımız hamur güllaç vakasından sonra kafaya koyduğumuz güllacı yemek için bu sefer kırkfırına geldik. İçi fıstıklı üstü narlı, katları tek tek seçilebilen hamur olmamış, çıtır kalmamış güzel bir güllaçtı.

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