The name comes from the Byzantine Greek πογάτσα (pogátsa), from the ancient Roman pānis focācius, literally "hearth bread"; cf.

[6][7] Placenta is a type of pancake, made from two layers of dough, usually filled with cottage cheese.

Traditional Greek bougatsa is prepared from hand-made phyllo dough wrapped around a filling.

The bougatsa cream is filled with semolina custard; it is then cut into small pieces and served hot, topped with lightly dusted powdered icing sugar and/or cinnamon.

The bougatsa recipe parts are: preparing the custard filling; placing about 5 sheets of buttered phyllo pastry (also known as filo) in a baking dish; assembling the bougatsa; preheating the oven to the correct temperature and baking until the phyllo dough reaches the desired golden-brown crispness; cutting the bougatsa while still hot into small portions and serving.