Pestil
Place of originArmenia,[1] Ottoman Empire[2]
Main ingredientsmust, nuts, flour or starch[3]

Pestil, also known as bastık or pastegh is dried fruit pulp, best exemplified in the English term "fruit leather." Fruit leather is made from mechanically pulverizing fruit, then spreading it out to dry into a tough, yet flexible and edible material which can be kept preserved for several months in an airtight container. It is a popular dessert in Armenia and Turkey.[4]

Pestil might be made with different types of fruit beside plums. Apples, apricots, pears, peaches and melons are popular choices.[5]

Etymology

Armenian rolled up pastegh

According to Turkish etymological dictionary Nişanyan Sözlük, Turkish pestil and Italian pastillo are cognates and pastillo might have derived from Italian pastello. The dictionary asserts that the relationship between pestil and French pastille is ambiguous. The oldest written record of the Turkish word is dated back to 1501 dictionary Câmiü'l-Fürs.[6]

According to Robert Dankoff, the term bastık, used in much of Anatolia including Bursa, Kayseri, and Van, derives from Armenian pasteł (պաստեղ, "pastegh" / "fruit leather") which in turn derives from Ancient Greek pastillos (πάστιλλος, "pastille").[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Armenian Food: Fact, Fiction & Folklore ISBN 9781411698659
  2. ↑ Canbakal, Hülya (2007). Society and Politics in an Ottoman Town: 'Ayntāb in the 17th Century. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-15456-8.
  3. ↑ Goldstein, Darra (2015). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford University Press. p. 413. ISBN 9780199313396.
  4. ↑ "Pastegh (TTU Lavash or Sour Lavash) - Armenian Sweet & Tart Chewy Fruit Learher". 8 October 2022.
  5. ↑ Kristbergsson, Kristberg; Oliveira, Jorge (2016-03-09). Traditional Foods: General and Consumer Aspects. Springer. ISBN 978-1-4899-7648-2.
  6. ↑ "pestil". Nişanyan Sözlük. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  7. ↑ Dankoff, Robert (1995). Armenian Loanwords in Turkish. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-03640-5.
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