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 pita bread.
Flatbreads range from below one millimeter to a few centimeters thick so that they can be easily eaten without being sliced. They can be baked in an oven, fried in hot oil, grilled over hot coals, cooked on a hot pan, tava, comal, or metal griddle, and eaten fresh or packaged and frozen for later use.
History
Flatbreads were amongst the earliest processed foods, and evidence of their production has been found at ancient sites in Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, and the Indus civilization.
In 2018, charred bread crumbs were found at a Natufian site called Shubayqa 1 in Jordan (in Harrat ash Shaam, the Black Desert) dating to 12,400 BC, some 4,000 years before the start of agriculture in the region. Analysis showed that they were probably from flatbread containing wild barley, einkorn wheat, oats, and Bolboschoenus glaucus tubers (a kind of rush).
Primitive clay ovens (tandir) used to bake unleavened flatbread were common in Anatolia during the Seljuk and Ottoman eras, and have been found at archaeological sites distributed across the Middle East. The word tandır comes from the Akkadian tinuru, which becomes tannur in Hebrew and Arabic, tandır in Turkish, and tandur in Urdu/Hindi. Of the hundreds of bread varieties known from cuneiform sources, unleavened tinuru bread was made by adhering bread to the side walls of a heated cylindrical oven. This type of bread is still central to rural food culture in this part of the world, reflected by the local folklore, where a young man and woman sharing fresh tandır bread is a symbol of young love, however, the culture of traditional bread baking is changing with younger generations, especially with those who reside in towns showing preference for modern conveniences.
List of flatbreads
Europe
Bannock (Scotland): a quick bread baked from grain
Blini (Russia) Bolo do caco (Madeira, Portugal) Borlengo (Italy) Farl (Ireland and Scotland) Flammkuchen/Tarte flambée (Alsace): thin bread dough rolled out in a circle or a rectangle and covered with onions and lardons Flatbrød (Norway): barley flour, salt and water, or potato, flour and salt, or peas flour and salt. Flatkaka (Iceland): rye flatbread Focaccia (Italy) Ftira (Malta) Hoggan (Cornwall): made from barley flour containing pieces of pork, and potato Hönökaka (Bohuslän): made from wheatmeal. The name is the commercial variant of the traditional name "bagebröd", meaning "baked bread". Lagana (Greece) Shotis Puri (Georgia) Tonis puri (Georgia) Lángos (Hungary) Lefse (Norway) Oatcake (United Kingdom) Pane carasau (Sardinia, Italy) Pastetx (Gascony, France) Piadina (Italy): white flour, lard (or olive oil), salt and water Pinsa (Rome): wheat and other flours, such as barley, rice, oats, and millet Pita (Greece) Pită/Lipie/Turtă (Romania) Pichade (Menton, France) Pissaladière (France) Podpłomyk (Poland) Posúch (Slovakia) Parlenka (Bulgaria) Rieska (Finland) Somun and Lepina (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Spianata sarda (Sardinia, Italy) Staffordshire oatcake (England) Tigella (Italy) Talo (France) Torta (Spain) Torta al testo (Umbria, Italy) Torta de Gazpacho (Spain) Tunnbröd (Sweden): any combination of wheat, barley and rye
Middle East and Africa
Barbari (Iran) Bataw (Egypt) Bazlama (Turkey): made from wheat flour, water, and salt Chapati (Swahili coast, Uganda) Eish merahrah (Egypt): made with 5–10% ground fenugreek seeds and maize Gözleme (Turkey): folded over a savoury filling and fried on a griddle Gurassa (bread) (Sudan) Harcha (Morocco): fried buttery bread made of semolina Injera (Horn of Africa): teff flour Khebz (Levant) Khubz (Arabian Peninsula) Khubz Asmr (Saudi Arabia) (Arabian Peninsula): made of wholemeal flour, yeast, and salt Khubz al-Jamri (Arabia, Northern Yemen): ash cake made by burying dough in hot ashes and embers. Kisra, (Sudan) Lahoh (Somalia, Djibouti, Yemen) Lavash (Turkey and Armenia) Moroccan Frena Lebanese Bread (Lebanon): white flour, dried yeast, sugar, salt and water Malooga (Yemen): water, yeast, salt and flour Markook (Levant) Matnakash (Armenia) Matzo (Jewish): white plain flour and water Mulawah (Yemen) M'lawi (Tunisia): water, olive oil, semolina and flour Murr (Israel) Muufo (Somalia) Ngome (Mali): millet, water and vegetable oil Pita (Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey and Middle East) Pogača (Balkans and Turkey) Sabaayad (Somalia and Djibouti) Saj bread (Lebanon, Turkey, Israel) Sangak (Iran) Taftan (Iran) Yufka (Turkey): wheat flour, water and salt Taboon bread, (Lebanon)