Gata is an Armenian pastry, similar to a coffee cake. There
are many variations of gata and 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 is now
baked in ovens. The bread is often times baked to coincide with the feast of
Candlemas, but is not limited to the holiday and is eaten year around. One popular
variety is gata with koritz, 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 is the lucky one to receive the
piece with the coin is to be blessed with good fortune. Gata from the villages
of Garni and Geghard are decorated delicious breads that are round in shape and
generally about a foot in diameter. Around the southern edge of Lake Sevan at
the town of Tsovinar gata is baked without koritz, is triangular in shape, and
is denser sweet bread that is left relatively unadorned.
