Gata (food) facts for kids

Gata (Armenian: գաթա) is an Armenian pastry or sweet bread. There are many variations of gata in Armenia. Typically, specific towns or regions will have their own version. It can be found in a variety of shapes, sizes and may be decorated or left unadorned. Long ago, gata was baked in a tonir, but it is now baked in ovens. The bread is traditionally eaten at the feast of Candlemas, but is eaten during other festivities too or simply baked to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee.

One popular variety is gata with koritz (khoriz), a filling that consists of flour, butter and sugar. Gata can have other fillings such as nuts, most commonly walnuts. Some variations include placing a coin inside the dough before the gata is baked, and it is said that whoever receives the piece with the coin is to be blessed with good fortune. Gata from the villages of Garni and Geghard are decorated (before baking), round, and generally about a foot in diameter. Around the southern edge of Lake Sevan, in the town of Tsovinar, gata is denser and sweeter, and baked without koritz in a triangular shape without decoration.