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Lebanese Man'oushe
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Bread classes are now taught on-line, and Susan, Leah, and I signed up to learn how to make flatbreads from Andrew Janjigian, pizza professional, former bread expert at America’s Test Kitchen, and current bread blogger (https://wordloaf.substack.com/).
Before he started mixing his first dough, an Armenian Lahmajun, Janjigian explained how early emigrants from Armenia and Turkey settled in Greece bringing their flatbreads with them. Greek explorers later moved to Italy with their variant of Lahmajun, developing, in turn, one of the world’s most prominent flatbreads in the city of Naples: pizza. That is one theory for the origin of pizza. At the very least, according to Janjigian, Levantine flatbreads pre-date pizza. Probably by several thousand years. |
Cheese bread, an antecedent of pizza.
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Lahmajun, a kind of Armenian pizza, was first up. A ten-inch round was topped with a thin film of ground lamb spun in a food processor with onions, red bell pepper, red pepper paste, tomato paste, parsley, and Middle Eastern spices. It was baked, as were all of the breads in the workshop, in an oven of 500 - 550 degrees. In five minutes it was out with a crisp bottom that cracked when folded into thirds. Janjigian recommended eating Lahmajun sandwiched around a middle eastern salad of fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, and olives. |
Some of the ingredients in Lahmajun
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Lahmajun
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Lahmajun with salad
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Man’oushe: a twelve-inch round coated with a paste of top-quality olive oil and za’atar. Za’atar is a magical mixture of fresh thyme, sumac, salt, and sesame seeds.
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Man'oushe
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Georgian Khachapouri is a pirogue of dough filled with native Georgian cheeses. I admit, I replaced Janjigian's recipe for dough with a sourdough version. In America the best approximations of the tang and chewiness of Georgian cheese are a mixture of feta and mozzarella. When the bread came from the oven, the yolk of an egg was mixed into the melted cheese, cooking it on the spot. By tradition, the bow, stern and thick rolled edges are torn off and dipped in the rich mixture and the eater moans with satisfaction.
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Khachapouri
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Dipping Khachapouri
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A subsection of the aftermath
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