With a thin phyllo dough and filling with cream or cheese, bougatsa is a special pie that makes an exceptional breakfast choice. Although one can come across a bougatsa with other fillings as well, such as spinach or minced meat, the one with cheese is considered to be the most authentic.
Bougatsa was brought to Greece by Asia Minor refugees after the Asia Minor Disaster. That is why it became known and adopted initially in Northern Greece, where it is very popular mainly in Thessaloniki and Serres. It is certain, however, that it was widespread among the Greeks of Polis (Istanbul) and Smyrna. Over time bougatsa was spread from Macedonia to Epirus and from the Peloponnese to Crete. In Northern Greece, bougatsa is a favorite snack for every hour time of the day. Some argue that bougatsa is the evolution of the ancient placenta, which was a pie with a sweet or savory filling.
There are differences in the preparation of bougatsa between Northern and Southern Greece, which are related to the phyllo dough preparation process and the way of serving. In southern Greece, many confuse bougatsa with cheese with cheese pie, but they are not the same thing because they differ in the type of phyllo.
Sweet pastry is usually sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon. For the lovers of the truly delicious bougatsa phyllo there is also a bougatsa crisp, that is, plain baked bougatsa phyllo sprinkled with icing sugar, especially in Northern Greece. The experience of bougatsa with breakfast coffee, especially in the cities of Northern Greece, is a sweet and light journey of the palate in an authentic taste of Greece to the beginning of the 20th century. It is also worth mentioning the Bougatsa Festival which is organized every year in Thessaloniki.