Pita ( or ) or pitta (
British English
British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...
), is a family of yeast-
leavened
Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made food ...
round
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 ...
s baked from
wheat flour
Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or ''bread ...
, common in the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
,
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
, and neighboring areas. It includes the widely known version with an interior pocket, also known as Arabic bread ( ar, خبز عربي; ''khubz ʿarabī''). In the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, Greek bread is used for pocket versions such as the Greek pita, and are used for
barbecues to a
souvlaki
Souvlaki ( el, σουβλάκι, , ; plural: , ), is a popular Greek fast food consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer. It is usually eaten straight off the skewer while still hot. It can be served with o ...
wrap.
The
Western name ''pita'' may sometimes be used to refer to various other types of flatbreads that have different names in their local languages, such as numerous styles of Arab ''
khubz
Khubz, alternatively transliterated as ''khoubz'', ''khobez'', ''khubez'', or ''khubooz'', ), date=February 2022, is the usual word for "bread" in Standard Arabic and in many of the vernaculars.
Among the breads popular in Middle Eastern countri ...
'' (bread).
History
Pita has roots in the prehistoric flatbreads of the Middle East.
There is evidence from about 14,500 years ago, during the
Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...
, that the
Natufian
The Natufian culture () is a Late Epipaleolithic archaeological culture of the Levant, dating to around 15,000 to 11,500 years ago. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentary or semi-sedentary population even before the introduction ...
people in what is now
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
made a kind of flatbread from wild cereal grains. Ancient wheat and barley were among the
earliest domesticated crops in the
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
period of about 10,000 years ago, in the
Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent ( ar, الهلال الخصيب) is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan, together with the northern region of Kuwait, southeastern region of ...
. By 4,000 years ago, bread was of central importance in societies such as the
Babylon
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
ian culture of
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
, where the earliest-known written records and recipes of bread-making originate, and where pita-like flatbreads cooked in a ''tinûru'' (''tannur'' or ''tandoor'') were a basic element of the diet, and much the same as today's
tandoor bread,
taboon bread
Taboon bread ( ar, خبز طابون, khubz ṭābūn) is Levantine flatbread baked in a ''taboon'' or ''tannur'' 'tandoor' clay oven, similar to the various tandoor breads found in many parts of Asia. It is used as a base or wrap in many cuisines ...
, and
laffa
Laffa, also known as lafa or Iraqi pita, is a large, thin flatbread in Israeli cuisine with an Iraqi origin. Laffa is a simple bread that is traditionally dairy-free and vegan and cooked in a ''tannur'' (tandoor) or ''taboon'' oven. It is most ...
, an Iraqi flatbread with many similarities with pita. However, there is no record of the steam-puffed, two-layer "pocket pita" in the ancient texts, or in any of the medieval Arab cookbooks, and according to food historians such as
Charles Perry and
Gil Marks it was likely a later development.
Etymology
The first mention of the word in English cited in the
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...
was in 1936.
The English word is borrowed from
Modern Greek
Modern Greek (, , or , ''Kiní Neoellinikí Glóssa''), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the ...
(, "bread, cake, pie, pitta"), in turn from
Byzantine Greek
Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman co ...
(attested in 1108),
possibly from
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
() or (, both "pitch/resin") for the gloss, or from (, "fermented pastry"), which may have passed to
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
as cf.
pizza
Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, onions ...
. In
Levantine Arabic it evolved into , (since
Old Arabic
Old Arabic is the name for the pre-Islamic Arabic language or dialect continuum. Various forms of Old Arabic are attested in many scripts like Safaitic, Hismaic, Nabatean, and even Greek.
Classification
Old Arabic and its descendants are class ...
/
p/ evolved into /
f/).
Other hypotheses trace the word back to the
Classical Hebrew word (, lit. "a morsel of bread").
It is spelled like the
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
(), from which it was received into Byzantine Greek (see above). Hypotheses also exist for
Germanic or
Illyrian intermediaries.
The word has been borrowed by
Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
as , and appears in the
Balkan languages as
Bosnian-Serbian-Croatian ,
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
**Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
,
Albanian
Albanian may refer to:
*Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular:
**Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans
**Albanian language
**Albanian culture
**Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...
, and
Bulgarian
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
or ; however, in the Serbo-Croatian languages of the countries comprising
Former Yugoslavia, the word pita is used in a general sense meaning
pie
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), brown sugar ( sugar pie), swe ...
.
In
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, 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 ...
, the phrase (, lit. "pita bread") is sometimes used; other names are simply (
, "bread"), (, "Arab bread") or (, "al-kimaj bread").
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 called (, "levantine bread", "syrian bread") or simply (, "bread"),
although other subtypes of "bread" are common in Egypt, such as
eish fino
Eish fino ( arz, عيش فينو) is a long baguette-shaped bread roll from Egypt made with wheat flour. It is the most commonly consumed bread type in the country after '' eish baladi'', the staple flatbread. It has a soft texture and is often ...
and
eish merahrah
Eish merahrah ( arz, عيش مرحرح, , "smoothed-out bread", "spread-out bread") is a flatbread, made with ground fenugreek seeds and maize, eaten in Egypt. It is part of the traditional diet of the Egyptian countryside, prepared locally in vil ...
.
In
Greek, () is understood by default to refer to the thicker, pocketless Greek pita, whereas the thinner ''khubz''-style pita is referred to as (, lit. "Arabic pastry").
Preparation
![PikiWiki_Israel_30304_Events_in_Israel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/PikiWiki_Israel_30304_Events_in_Israel.jpg)
Most pita are
baked
Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferre ...
at high temperatures (), which turns the water in the
dough
Dough is a thick, malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops. Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes yeast or other leavening ag ...
into steam, thus causing the pita to puff up and form a pocket.
When removed from the
oven
upA double oven
A ceramic oven
An oven is a tool which is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been us ...
, the layers of baked dough remain separated inside the deflated pita, which allows the bread to be opened to form a pocket. However, pita is sometimes baked without pockets and is called "pocket-less pita". Regardless of whether it is made at home or in a commercial bakery, pita is
proofed for a very short time—only 15 minutes.
Modern commercial pita bread is prepared on advanced automatic lines. These lines have high production capacities, processing silos of flour at a time and producing thousands of loaves per hour. The ovens used in commercial baking are much hotter than traditional clay ovens——so each loaf is baked only for one minute. The pita are then air-cooled for about 20 minutes on conveyor belts before being shipped immediately or else stored in commercial
freezers kept at a temperature of .
Culinary use
Pita can be used to scoop sauces or dips, such as
hummus
Hummus (, ; ar, حُمُّص, 'chickpeas'; full Arabic name: ''ḥummuṣ bi-ṭ-ṭaḥīna'' ar, حمص بالطحينة, 'chickpeas with tahini'), also spelled hommus or houmous, is a Middle Eastern dip, spread, or savory dish made fr ...
, or to wrap
kebab
Kebab (, ; ar, كباب, link=no, Latn, ar, kabāb, ; tr, kebap, link=no, ) or kabob (North American) is a type of cooked meat dish that originates from cuisines of the Middle East. Many variants of the category are popular around the wor ...
s,
gyros
Gyros—in some regions, chiefly North America, anglicized as a gyro (; el, γύρος, yíros/gyros, turn, )—is meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, then sliced and served wrapped or stuffed in pita bread, along with ingredients such a ...
, or
falafel
Falafel (; ar, فلافل, ) is a deep-fried ball or patty-shaped fritter in Middle Eastern cuisine (especially in Levantine and Egyptian cuisines) made from ground chickpeas, broad beans, or both. Nowadays, falafel is often served in a p ...
in the manner of
sandwich
A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...
es. It can also be cut and baked into crispy pita chips.
In
Turkish cuisine
Turkish cuisine () is the cuisine of Turkey and the Turkish diaspora. It is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Mediterranean, Balkan, Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Eastern Eur ...
, the word ''pide'' may refer to three different styles of bread: a flatbread similar to that eaten in Greece and Arab countries, a pizza-like dish where the filling is placed on the (often boat-shaped) dough before baking, and
Ramazan pide. The first type of ''pide'' is used to wrap various styles of
kebab
Kebab (, ; ar, كباب, link=no, Latn, ar, kabāb, ; tr, kebap, link=no, ) or kabob (North American) is a type of cooked meat dish that originates from cuisines of the Middle East. Many variants of the category are popular around the wor ...
, while the second is topped with cheese,
ground meat
Ground meat, called mince or minced meat outside North America, is meat finely chopped by a meat grinder or a chopping knife. A common type of ground meat is ground beef, but many other types of meats are prepared in a similar fashion, includi ...
, or other fresh or
cured meats, and/or vegetables. Regional variations in the shape, baking technique, and toppings create distinctive styles for each region.
In
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
, pita is typically rounder, fluffier and baked on a cast-iron skillet. It is used for
souvlaki
Souvlaki ( el, σουβλάκι, , ; plural: , ), is a popular Greek fast food consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer. It is usually eaten straight off the skewer while still hot. It can be served with o ...
a,
sheftalia
Sheftalia (; el, σεφταλιά; tr, şeftali) is a traditional sausage from Cyprus made from caul fat
Caul fat, also known as lace fat, omentum, or fat netting, is the thin membrane which surrounds the internal organs of some animals, such ...
,
halloumi
Halloumi or haloumi (, el, χαλούμι, haloúmi; tr, hellim}) is a traditional Cypriot cheese made from a mixture of goat's and sheep's milk, and sometimes also cow's milk. Its texture is described as squeaky. It has a high melting point a ...
with
lountza
Cured pork tenderloin is found in various cuisines in Mediterranean Europe and South America.
It is typically salted or brined then dry-cured or smoked.
In different countries Spain
In Spanish cuisine, ''lomo embuchado'' is a dry-cured meat m ...
, and gyros. In
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
the word ''pita'' means "pastry" and is usually used for various cakes and pastries like
spanakopita
Spanakopita (; el, σπανακόπιτα, from ''spanáki'' 'spinach', and πίτα ''píta'' 'pie') is a Greek savory spinach pie. It often also contains cheese, typically feta, and may then be called spanakotiropita ( el, σπανακοτυ ...
(spinach pie) and
karydopita
Karydopita (Greek: Καρυδόπιτα) is a Greek dessert cake made primarily from walnuts and covered in a sweet syrup. Its name is a compound word which derives from "karýdia" (Greek for walnuts) and "pita" (Greek for pie).
There are severa ...
(walnut cake) unrelated to the English language "pita" flatbread. Traditional breads in Greek cuisine are leavened loaves, such as the round καρβέλι karvéli or the oblong φραντζόλα frantzóla. This style of pita flatbread, in the English language meaning of the word, is almost exclusively used as a wrap for ''souvlaki'' or
gyros
Gyros—in some regions, chiefly North America, anglicized as a gyro (; el, γύρος, yíros/gyros, turn, )—is meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, then sliced and served wrapped or stuffed in pita bread, along with ingredients such a ...
usually garnished with some combination of
tzatziki
Tzatziki ( el, τζατζίκι), also known as tarator or cacık (), is a dip, soup, or sauce found in the cuisines of Southeast Europe and the Middle East. It is made of salted strained yogurt or diluted yogurt mixed with cucumbers, garlic ...
sauce, tomatoes, onions, and
french fries
French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips ( Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. Th ...
.
In
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, Druze pita is very popular. The Druze-style pita is filled with
labneh (thick yoghurt) and topped with
olive oil
Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...
and
za’atar
Za'atar ( ; ar, زَعْتَر, ) is a culinary herb or family of herbs. It is also the name of a spice mixture that includes the herb along with toasted sesame seeds, Rhus coriaria, dried sumac, often salt, as well as other spices. As a fam ...
.
In
Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
,
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
and
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
, local style of pitta is known as ''lepina'', ''somun'' or ''pitica'', and is the most common bread serving with barbecued food like
ćevapi,
pljeskavica or grilled
sausages. The word ''pita'' itself, on the other hand, is used for ''pie'' in the general sense in all local languages, and is mostly used for
börek or various sweet
phyllo pastry dishes (with the exception of
baklava
Baklava (, or ; ota, باقلوا ) is a layered pastry dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey. It was one of the most popular sweet pastries of Ottoman cuisine.
The pre- Ottoman origin of the ...
which is always called that).
File:Pide (6377363891).jpg, Pide baking in wood fired oven in Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
File:Lunch at the beach North of Jaffa (4158698648).jpg, Hummus platter served with pide near Jaffa
Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...
in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
File:Pide and ayran.jpg, ''Karadeniz pidesi'' from Turkey topped with ''kaşar
Kasseri or Kaşar (Greek: κασέρι, Turkish: ''kaşar''Merriam-Webster Unabridged ''kasseri''/ref>) is a medium-hard or hard pale yellow cheese made from pasteurised or unpasteurised sheep milk and at most 20% goat's milk. "Kasseri" is a pr ...
'' cheese
File:Palestinianbreakfastfalafel.jpg, Palestinian breakfast with falafel
Falafel (; ar, فلافل, ) is a deep-fried ball or patty-shaped fritter in Middle Eastern cuisine (especially in Levantine and Egyptian cuisines) made from ground chickpeas, broad beans, or both. Nowadays, falafel is often served in a p ...
, hummus
Hummus (, ; ar, حُمُّص, 'chickpeas'; full Arabic name: ''ḥummuṣ bi-ṭ-ṭaḥīna'' ar, حمص بالطحينة, 'chickpeas with tahini'), also spelled hommus or houmous, is a Middle Eastern dip, spread, or savory dish made fr ...
, torshi
Torshi ( fa, ترشی, lit=sourness, translit=torshi) are the pickled vegetables of many Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines.
Torshi is common in Arab, Turkish, Kurdish, Afghan, Bosnian, Armenian and Iranian cuisine. Iran has hundreds of types of ...
and khubz bread
File:Tırnaklı pide 1.jpg, Ramadan pide
File:Jerusalem shawarma.jpg, Shawarma in Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
File:Gyro sandwich (3).jpg, Gyro pide wrap
File:Baked pita on conveyor belt in Tell Rifaat.jpg, Baked khubz on conveyor in Tell Rifaat
Tell Rifaat ( ar, تل رفعت, Tall Rifʿat, also spelled Tel Rifaat, Tel Rif'at or Tal Rifaat) (Kurdish: Arfêd/ ئارفێد) is a city in northern Aleppo Governorate, northwestern Syria. Located roughly north of Aleppo, the town is the admin ...
, Syria
File:Manisa kebabı.jpg, Kebab
Kebab (, ; ar, كباب, link=no, Latn, ar, kabāb, ; tr, kebap, link=no, ) or kabob (North American) is a type of cooked meat dish that originates from cuisines of the Middle East. Many variants of the category are popular around the wor ...
served over pide with ''pilav
Pilaf ( US spelling) or pilau ( UK spelling) is a rice dish, or in some regions, a wheat dish, whose recipe usually involves cooking in stock or broth, adding spices, and other ingredients such as vegetables or meat, and employing some techniq ...
''
File:Bosnian-cevapi-with-kajmak-and-onion.jpg, Bosnian ćevapi served with local pitta variety called ''somun''
See also
*
Chapati, an unleavened flatbread from the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
*
Flour tortilla
A flour tortilla (, ) or wheat tortilla is a type of soft, thin flatbread made from finely ground wheat flour. It was originally inspired by the corn tortilla of Mexican cuisine, a flatbread of maize which predates the arrival of Europeans to ...
, a thin unleavened flatbread from
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
*
Focaccia, a flat oven-baked bread from
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
*
Injera, a sourdough-risen flatbread from
East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
*
Khachapuri, a breaded cheese dish from
Georgia
*
Matnakash
Matnakash ( hy, մատնաքաշ) is a leavened traditional Armenian bread. The word ''matnakash'' means "finger draw" or "finger pull", referring to the way the bread is prepared. It is made of wheat flour with yeast or sourdough starter. It is ...
, a leavened bread from
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
(related to the
Ramadan pita
''Ramazan pidesi'' ( Turkish for Ramadan pita) is a traditional soft leavened Turkish bread.
Round and rather flat in form, and having a weave-like patterned crust, ''Ramazan pidesi'' is made of wheat flour with yeast, and topped with sesame an ...
)
*
Naan
Naan ( fa, نان, nān, ur, , ps, نان, ug, نان, hi, नान, bn, নান) is a leavened, oven-baked or tawa-fried flatbread which is found in the cuisines mainly of Western Asia, Central Asia, Indian subcontinent, Indonesia, Ma ...
, a leavened, oven-baked flatbread from
Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
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Pită de Pecica
Pită de PecicaRomania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
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Rghaif
M'semen, msemmen ( ar, مسمن ''msamman'', ''musamman'') or rghaif, is a traditional flatbread originally from the Maghreb, commonly found in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. It is usually served with honey or a cup of aromatic morning mint tea ...
, a pancake-like bread from
Northwest Africa
References
External links
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Arab cuisine
Ancient Greek cuisine
Byzantine cuisine
Greek breads
Greek cuisine
Flatbreads
Balkan cuisine
Levantine cuisine
Middle Eastern cuisine
Turkish cuisine