In the comments to the photo report on the trip to Egypt, I promised that it would be continued. And promises must be kept, good, I really have something in store, and, oddly enough, quite within the framework of our favorite theme. Why “oddly enough”?
Because, going to Egypt, you absolutely do not expect any new culinary impressions and discoveries from this trip. However, this time I was lucky – I managed to spy on and photograph the process of the birth of Egyptian flatbreads, which, like in many ancient cultures, to this day serve simultaneously as a plate, and a napkin, and devices.
According to the cook of a local restaurant (the woman who baked the bread, she hardly spoke English), for this bread – aish baladi – wheat flour is mixed with water, vegetable oil and a pinch of salt. The proportions seemed strange to me even then, and only then I discovered that most of the recipes suggest adding yeast, and the oil is not mentioned at all. That is why I do not dare to give the recipe, but I suggest just looking at how this bread is baked. First, the dough is kneaded, and small “pancakes” are laid out on a tray with corn flour – to let stand. Quite a long time – however, next to the stove in general, any fuss is useless, it is dangerous.
Coarse cornmeal plays two roles at once. Firstly, thanks to it, the dough does not stick to the tray, and secondly, particles of flour remain on the surface of the finished cake, which makes the texture of the bread quite unusual.
But, finally, you can get down to business. First, a gas stove is ignited, the fire of the burners around its perimeter is apparently designed to imitate the coals shifted to the walls.
Then this Egyptian woman would take the cakes, one at a time, and toss them quickly, quickly to shape them into a round, flatter shape. Hands first …
… and then on a wooden shovel, which is so convenient for putting the bread into the oven later. No matter how hard I tried, I could not keep up with her movements.
And then everything is simple. The bread goes into the oven, literally for a few minutes. With the naked eye, you can see how scorch marks appear on the surface of the cake, and it itself swells from the inside. Finished cakes are removed from the oven using the same shovel. Caution Hot!
But as soon as they cool down a little, you need to immediately grab the cake and eat it, just like that, tearing off a piece. There is nothing tastier than bread straight from the oven, as if I’m telling you.