{{Short description|Dried fruit dessert}} {{Infobox food | name = Pestil | image = File:Turkish_pestil_with_walnuts.jpg | caption = | alternate_name = | country = Armenia<ref>Armenian Food: Fact, Fiction & Folklore {{ISBN|9781411698659}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/ttu-lavash|title=T'tu Lavash|website=Atlas Obscura|author-first=Susie|author-last=Armitage|access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref><ref name="sweettreats"/> | region = | creator = | course = | associated_cuisine = Armenian cuisine<br>Turkish cuisine | type = | served = | main_ingredient = must, nuts, flour or starch<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goldstein |first1=Darra |title=The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199313396 |page=413 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jbi6BwAAQBAJ&dq=oxford+companion+sweets+pestil&pg=PA413}}</ref> | variations = | calories = | other = }} '''Pestil''' is a traditional dried fruit pulp that is commonly produced in Anatolia and Armenia. It is known under different names such as '''bastegh''' or '''pastegh''' ({{Langx|hy|պաստեղ}}), '''t'tu lavash''' ({{langx|hy|թթու լավաշ|translation=sour lavash}}), '''bestil''', and '''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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pastegh (TTU Lavash or Sour Lavash) - Armenian Sweet & Tart Chewy Fruit Learher |date=8 October 2022 |url=https://phoenixtour.org/blog/pastegh-ttu-lavash-or-sour-lavash-armenian-sweet-tart-chewy-fruit-leather/ }}</ref>
Pestil might be made with different types of fruit beside plums. Pomegranates, grapes, apples, apricots, pears, peaches and watermelons are popular choices.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Springer| isbn = 978-1-4899-7648-2| last1 = Kristbergsson| first1 = Kristberg| last2 = Oliveira| first2 = Jorge| title = Traditional Foods: General and Consumer Aspects| date = 2016-03-09}}</ref>
== Etymology and history == According to Robert Dankoff, the term ''bastik'', used in much of Anatolia including Bursa, Kayseri, and Van, derives from Armenian ''pasteł'' ({{Linktext|պաստեղ}}, "{{Linktext|pastegh}}" / "fruit leather") which in turn derives from Ancient Greek {{lang|grc|pastillos}} ({{Linktext|πάστιλλος}}, "pastille").<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dankoff |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aFWQTBm35m0C&pg=PA123 |title=Armenian Loanwords in Turkish |date=1995 |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=978-3-447-03640-5}}</ref> This word and the fruit leather it describes was first attested in Middle Armenian as պաստեղ (pasteġ) in the year 1227 AD.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}
According to Turkish-Armenian linguist Nişanyan Sevan, ''pestil'' and ''{{Linktext|pastillo}}'' are cognates and ''pastillo'' might have derived from Italian ''{{Linktext|pastello}}''. The dictionary asserts that the relationship between ''pestil'' and French ''pastille'' is ambiguous. The first Turkish attestation of the word is dated back to 1501 dictionary ''Câmiü'l-Fürs.''<ref>{{Cite web|title=pestil|url=https://nisanyansozluk.com/?k=pestil|access-date=2020-10-21|website=Nişanyan Sözlük}}</ref>
The origins of ''pastegh'' may be traced back to the times when Armenia was part of the Achaemenid Empire as the Satrapy of Armenia.<ref name="sweettreats">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K-bIEAAAQBAJ&q=Sweet+Treats+around+the+World|title=Sweet Treats around the World: An Encyclopedia of Food and Culture|date=29 July 2014|author=Timothy G. Roufs, Kathleen Smyth Roufs|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=9798216152040}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Fruit Leather: Preparation, packaging and its effect on sensorial and physico-chemical properties: A review|date=December 2020|author-first1=Manish|author-last1=Bakshi|author-first2=Harshini|author-last2=Bandaru|journal=Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry}}</ref>
Pestil is known as ''malban'' ({{langx|ar|ملبن}}) in Arabic.<ref name="felesteen2021">{{cite news |title=في فلسطين.. حلوى "الملبن" تمتزج بالنكهة التركية |url=https://felesteen.news/post/87994/ |access-date=22 January 2026 |work=Felesteen News |date=2021 |language=ar |trans-title=In Palestine, the sweet treat "Malban" blends with Turkish flavor.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title="ملبن التوت" التركي.. مذاق يأسر عشاق الحلوى |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/ar/%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%A7/%D9%85%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%83%D9%8A-%D9%85%D8%B0%D8%A7%D9%82-%D9%8A%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%B1-%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%84%D9%88%D9%89/1647540 |access-date=22 January 2026 |work=Anadolu Agency |date=16 Nov 2019}}</ref><ref name="helou2018">{{cite book |last1=Helou |first1=Anissa |author1-link=Anissa Helou |title=Feast: Food of the Islamic World |date=4 October 2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-5266-0556-6 |page=500 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Feast/z6dvDwAAQBAJ |access-date=22 January 2026 |language=en |chapter=Grape Leather}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Oğuz |first1=Burhan |title=Türkiye halkının kültür kökenleri: Giriş, beslenme teknikleri |date=1976 |publisher=İstanbul Matbaası |isbn=978-975-8586-22-6 |page=515 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/T%C3%BCrkiye_halk%C4%B1n%C4%B1n_k%C3%BClt%C3%BCr_k%C3%B6kenleri/kOwBAAAAMAAJ?gbpv=1&bsq=malban |access-date=4 May 2026 |language=tr}}</ref>
==Regional varieties== ===Armenia=== To make Armenian ''pastegh'', apricots, sour cherries, plums, grapes, or other fruits are pressed, and the juice is boiled with sugar and thickened with flour or cornstarch. This mixture is then spread evenly over heavy muslin sheets, about 1/8 inch thick, and left to dry overnight. The following day, the sheets are hung outdoors to finish drying. Once the fruit puree has dried, it is sprayed with water to facilitate easy removal from the muslin.<ref name="sweettreats"/>
===Levant=== A version of pestil called '''Malban''' ({{langx|ar|ملبن}}; not to be confused with jok malban, or Turkish delight, which is also called malban) is prepared in the Levant region,<ref name="felesteen2021" /><ref name="helou2018" /><ref name="sytimes">{{cite news |title=Malban … handicraft made from grape juice in Homs |url=http://syriatimes.sy/malban-handicraft-made-from-grape-juice-in-homs-2/ |access-date=15 June 2025 |work=Syrian Times |date=7 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241209174353/http://syriatimes.sy/malban-handicraft-made-from-grape-juice-in-homs-2/ |archive-date=9 Dec 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> it is made by boiling grape juice, semolina flour is added to the boiling grape juice, and finally nigella seeds are added to the mix, the resulting mix is shaped into a sheet of fruit leather.<ref name="sytimes" /><ref name="eater">{{cite web |last1=Sella |first1=Adam |title=In the West Bank, a Palestinian Vineyard Struggles to Keep Tradition Alive |url=https://www.eater.com/23935397/palestine-grape-farmers-west-bank-israel-hamas-war |website=Eater |access-date=15 June 2025 |date=30 October 2023}}</ref>
Malban is especially popular in the cities of Hebron and Homs,<ref name="sytimes" /><ref name="jpost">{{cite news |title=Amid coronavirus, Palestinian grape farmers see market collapse |url=https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/amid-coronavirus-palestinian-grape-farmers-see-market-collapse-641788 |access-date=15 June 2025 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=10 September 2020 |language=en |issn=0792-822X }}</ref> Hebron in particular produces large amounts of grapes annually, some of which are turned into malban if fresh grapes remain unsold.<ref name="jpost"/><ref name="almonitor">{{cite news |title=Israel undercuts Palestinian agriculture with cheap produce - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012 |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/08/israel-undercuts-palestinian-agriculture-cheap-produce |access-date=15 June 2025 |work=www.al-monitor.com |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805150351/https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/08/israel-undercuts-palestinian-agriculture-cheap-produce |archive-date=5 Aug 2021}}</ref> It is attested as early as 1923 in Palestinian folk songs according to ethnographer Tawfiq Canaan.<ref>{{cite book |title=Studies in Palestinian Customs and Folklore |date=1923 |page=15 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Studies_in_Palestinian_Customs_and_Folkl/ey9XAAAAMAAJ?gbpv=1&bsq=leather |access-date=22 January 2026 |language=en}}</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery> File:Pastegh.jpg|Armenian pastegh File:Cevizli sucuk and Pestil.jpg|Pestil in Turkey (upper left) File:Ttu lavash.png|Armenian rolled up pastegh File:Pestil Yapımı.jpg|Preparation of pestil in Turkey </gallery>
==See also== * Churchkhela * Kaysefe * Orcik candy * Pastila * Fruit Roll-Ups * Tklapi
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|Pestil}} * {{Commons category-inline|Ttu lavash|T'tu lavash}} * {{Commons category-inline|Bastêq}}
{{Armenian cuisine}} {{Greek cuisine}} {{Turkish cuisine}}
Category:Armenian desserts Category:Greek desserts Category:Turkish desserts Category:Fruit dishes