Ash cake (also known as Ash bread; Fire cake) is a type of bread baked over a layer of heated stones or sand and covered-over in hot ashes, a practice still found principally in Arabian countries, especially among
Bedouins
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and Ar ...
.
Epiphanius (c. 310–403), in his work entitled ''
On Weights and Measures
''On Weights and Measures'' is a historical, lexical, metrological, and geographical treatise compiled in 392 AD in Constantia by Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 315–403). The greater part of the work is devoted to a discussion on Greek and Roma ...
'', brings down an anecdote about the practice of baking ash cakes, and which, in Hebrew, Epiphanius calls ''ugoth'' ( ''ʿugōṯ'', modern meaning: ''cakes''), adding that it is the bread described in , when
Sarah, the wife of
Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...
, was enjoined by her husband to knead three
measures
Measure may refer to:
* Measurement, the assignment of a number to a characteristic of an object or event
Law
* Ballot measure, proposed legislation in the United States
* Church of England Measure, legislation of the Church of England
* Measu ...
of fine meal and to bake cakes for the visiting angels.
When the bread (fine flour) has been kneaded and has afterward fermented, it is kneaded again. They bake this bread not in an oven but on a rock. Collecting smooth stones and piling them upon the ground, by means of much brushwood they heat them until they make of the smooth (stones) glowing embers. Then they remove the ashes from them, cover them with dough, and again spread the ashes over all the dough, spreading it out as one loaf, and hence it is called "hidden," because t is
T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is der ...
concealed in the ashes.
According to Epiphanius, the Hebrew name for this bread is derived, etymologically, from its manner of being baked as "bread that is hidden." Once the bread is baked, it is removed from the ashes, and the ashes brushed-off the bread before allowing it to cool.
Other methods of preparation
In northern
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
, ash cakes were called ''ğamrī'' ( ar, جَمْرِي), typically made thick, and baked directly over coals kept in a special vessel made of basalt-stone. In
Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...
, ash cake is served with a treacle of
date syrup (''dibs'') and with
clarified butter
Clarified butter is milk fat rendered from butter to separate the milk solids and water from the butterfat. Typically, it is produced by melting butter and allowing the components to separate by density. The water evaporates, some solids (i.e. ...
(''
samne'').
In
North America, ash cakes were primarily made by using
cornmeal.
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples.
Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...
using ground corn for cooking are credited with teaching Europeans how to make ash cakes. The manner of preparation varied, although one popular method was to brush aside the hot ashes, lay a large
collard green leaf upon the hot earth or cast-iron oven, upon which was poured a batter of cornmeal, and over which was laid another collard green leaf, and the hot ashes piled thereon.
In
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, ash cakes were made into a small, round and flat loaf, usually consisting of a little wheat and sometimes rye, baked under an inverted iron pan over which the ashes of the fire were heaped.
This was almost exclusively the bread of the peasants.
In French, this type of bread was called ''
fougasse''.
Classic literature
In classic Hebrew literature, the words in are explained by a consortium of commentators (
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...
,
[Hebrew Commentators](_blank)
/ref> Radak ''Cervera Bible'', David Qimhi's Grammar Treatise
David Kimhi ( he, ר׳ דָּוִד קִמְחִי, also Kimchi or Qimḥi) (1160–1235), also known by the Hebrew acronym as the RaDaK () (Rabbi David Kimhi), was a medieval rabbi, biblical comme ...
, Joseph Kara
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
, Ralbag
Levi ben Gershon (1288 – 20 April 1344), better known by his Graecized name as Gersonides, or by his Latinized name Magister Leo Hebraeus, or in Hebrew by the abbreviation of first letters as ''RaLBaG'', was a medieval French Jewish philosop ...
, Malbim
Meir Leibush ben Yehiel Michel Wisser (March 7, 1809 – September 18, 1879), better known as the Malbim ( he, מלבי"ם), was a rabbi, master of Hebrew grammar, and Bible commentator. The name ''Malbim'' was derived from the Hebrew initials ...
, among others) as having the connotation of a cake baked on hot stones, coals or cinders. The ash-cake described by A. Mizrachi (Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
: ''ğamrī'') is also baked directly over coals and thought to be a delicacy in South-Arabia.[, s.v. chapter: Breads, ג'מרי]
See also
* List of flatbreads
A flatbread is a bread made with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pizza and pita bread.
Flatbreads ra ...
* Johnnycake
Johnnycake, also known as journey cake, johnny bread, hoecake, shawnee cake or spider cornbread, is a cornmeal flatbread, a type of batter bread. An early American staple food, it is prepared on the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to Jamaica. ...
References
External links
* (English)
Cooking Ash Cakes
* (Arabic)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ash cake
Arab cuisine
Breads
Baking
Middle Eastern cuisine
Maize dishes