Eish merahrah ( arz, عيش مرحرح, , "smoothed-out bread", "spread-out bread") is a

flatbread 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 ran ...

, made with ground

fenugreek Fenugreek (; ''Trigonella foenum-graecum'') is an annual plant in the family Fabaceae, with leaves consisting of three small obovate to oblong leaflets. It is cultivated worldwide as a semiarid crop. Its seeds and leaves are common ingredients ...

seeds and

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

, eaten in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. It is part of the traditional diet of the Egyptian countryside, prepared locally in village homes in

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south. In ancient ...

. The loaves are flat and wide, and usually about 50 cm in diameter. A soft dough is made with the maize flour and left to ferment overnight with a

sourdough Sourdough or sourdough bread is a bread made by the fermentation of dough using wild lactobacillaceae and yeast. Lactic acid from fermentation imparts a sour taste and improves keeping qualities. History In the ''Encyclopedia of Food Microbio ...

starter, shaped into round loaves, and then allowed to rise or “proof” for 30 minutes before being flattened into round disks and baked. These loaves can be kept for one to two weeks in an airtight container. The addition of fenugreek seeds is thought to increase the protein content, storage length, and digestibility of the bread.

References

{{Flatbreads Arab cuisine Egyptian breads Flatbreads Sourdough breads