Lâpa

Lapa (Turkish) or lapas (Greek λαπάς) is a kind of rice porridge or gruel eaten in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire. It is made of just rice, water, and salt and has the consistency of a thick soup.

In Greek cuisine, it is used as a remedy for diarrhea, served with lemon juice.^[1]

Etymology

The dictionary of the Türk Dil Kurumu considers it a loanword from Pontic Greek ("Rumca").^[2]

A scholar of Turkish loanwords, on the other hand, gives it an Armenian origin: լափ lap’ 'watery food for dogs, pap for babies'.^[3]

See also

• List of porridges

Notes

1. G. Babiniotis, Λεξικό της Νέας Ελληνικής Γλώσσας (1998)
2. "TÜRK DİL KURUMU". Retrieved 3 January 2016.
3. Robert Dankoff, Armenian Loanwords in Turkish, ISBN 3-447-03640-0. p. 53 snippet