Kesra - Traditional Moroccan Flatbread

All over the Mediterranean and Middle East, flat breads are very popular. In fact, these breads are the most ancient breads of all with the simplest of them having no yeast. The cuisine of this area is typified by roasted meats and delicately-flavored sauces fragrant with spices like cinnamon and cumin. There are also many, many dips, the most famous being hummus and tehina paste. So the flat breads serve not only to mop up the sauces but also to work the dips. They are usually quite soft (like the pita bread) but also with a strong enough structure so they can be a vehicle for all the goodness they have to transport from plate to mouth. This bread is a Moroccan version of one of the many, many flatbreads from this region.

Here's What You'll Need: (for 2 'loaves')
sunflower or vegetable oil (for oiling the baking pan)
3/4 cup (75 g) cornmeal
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) instant dried yeast
1 tsp (5 g) salt
2 1/2 cups (600 ml) warm water
4 cups (450 g) AP flour
1 tsp. (5 g) sugar
2 Tbs. (30 g) melted butter or margarine

Here's What You'll Need To Do:
1. Mix together the flour, cornmeal, yeast, sugar and salt.

2. Make a well in the center, then pour in the water and melted butter (or margarine). Mix this together to form a soft dough. You may need to adjust the flour and/or water to get the right texture. The dough should be soft but not very sticky. Knead for a few minutes to develop the gluten.

3. Shape the dough into a ball, then flatten the ball to a disk about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick. Place the disk on a baking tray that is lightly oiled, then sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover with a damp towel, and let it rise until doubled in volume. This will take a while (2 hours?) because there is very little yeast. While you wait, the flavor is developing.

4. When the dough has risen, heat the oven to 425 F (about 220 C). Bake the bread for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 F (about 180 C) and bake for 15 minutes more. Remove the bread to a cooling rack when it is well-browned, with a crunchy crust.

5. Find some excellent hummus and dig in!!

Msemmen - North African (Algerian) Flat Bread

You may have noticed that I jump around a lot from place to place. Like last week I wrote about a to-die-for cinnamon loaf, and the week before that it was cornbread. Now I am in North Africa, specifically Algeria with a bread the locals call msemmen that is sort of like a laffa, but soooo different. This one is rolled flat, then fried (like naan) with the oil and spice mixture INSIDE! This is 'peasant' bread and is popular with lamb dishes and all of those luscious dips from the Mediterranean like humus, and tehina and the roasted eggplant dips.It's a keeper believe me.

Here's What You'll Need:
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/8 Tbs. yeast  (1 full teaspoon)
1/4 Tbs.(a little less than 1 tsp.) kosher salt
1 Tbs. gluten
7/8 cup warm water
2 Tbs. olive oil

for the spice mixture:
3 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp.paprika
1 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 tsp. kosher salt for sprinkling on top
2 Tbs. olive oil for the skillet


Here's What You'll Need To Do:
1. Mix together the flour, yeast, gluten and salt.

Then, mix in the olive oil and enough of the water to make a soft dough. Knead vigorously for about 7 or 8 minutes to make the dough very smooth and only a little sticky.

2. Move the dough to a lightly floured surface, and form it into a ball. Then roll it out into a circle about 20cm (8 inches) in diameter and only a few millimeters thick (1/8 in).

3. Mix the oil and spice mixture then spread the oil and spice mixture over the surface of the dough almost to the edge.  Then roll it up into a log. Form the log into a spiral, and cover with a towel to rest, about 20 minutes.

4. Working with one spiral at a time, roll the spiral out into another disk, again only a few millimeters this (1/8 in).

5. Spread a little olive oil in a skillet, place this dough disk in the skillet when it is quite hot and cover, on low heat for about 3 or 4 minutes. Then flip the bread to cook the other side.

6. Store the 'cooked' breadson a plate covered with a towel.

7. These breads, called msemmen are delicious served still warm, and dipped in something hot and spicy.