Right now you can't move on social media without falling over someone's sourdough starter or perfect naan blisters. Everyone we know is busy busting out the bread, showcasing their #bakecorona #comfortfood #isolife. It's little wonder: homemade bread fragrances the air with hope. It brings purpose to our days and gently whispers that everything is going to be okay.
Flatbreads are the winners here. They offer hundreds of years worth of comfort and rhythm. Just about every culture across the world consumes some kind of flatbread as part of their traditional diet. From the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Pacific, flatbreads abound. Fortunately, plenty of them are unleavened, which is good to know when you can't get your hands on a box of yeast for love nor money...
Try one of these flatbreads at your next meal. They work for breakfast, lunch, dinner and the mandatory 27 snack breaks we currently all need to get through the day.
Caribbean: doubles
From the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, this deep-fried flatbread is a Caribbean favourite. It's flavoured with turmeric and is a rare flatbread in that it's made with yeast. The dough needs only an hour chilling time, though, so it's a single-day option for a delicious lunch with a vegan-friendly chana curry.
Thailand: roti
An egg and flour dough come together quickly but pause for a moment. The secret to avoiding leathery roti is to give the dough plenty of resting time. Then you don’t need to work it too much to shape the bread. Serve roti with a saucy Thai dish like green curry, red curry or yellow curry.
Mauritius: farata
Just three ingredients - flour, ghee and sea salt - come together to create these light, flaky flatbreads. The ghee is folded into layers of the dough, creating a memorable buttery flavour. They pair perfectly with Creole dishes like a king prawn rougaille, spicy pickled coleslaw or duck curry.
A yoghurt flatbread
Matthew Evan's yoghurt flatbreads use yeast to create a light and puffy result that need nothing more than a dip in melted butter or olive oil to satisfy. A sneaky favourite is smearing one of these with homemade jam for an afternoon pick-me-up.
Turkey: bazlama
This moreish flatbread has a long fermentation time that gives its distinctive well-developed and slightly sour flavour. It’s perfect for dipping into and sopping up fragrant Middle Eastern stews and dips.
Kisir is Turkish tabouleh, traditionally made from burghul, tomatoes, capsicums (peppers) and fresh herbs. Hande Bozdoğan, the lovely founder of the Istanbul Culinary Institute, gave me her version, which is both sweet (from the beetroot) and sour (from the pomegranate molasses and balsamic vinegar). The pomegranate molasses used to dress this salad is very different from pomegranate juice, and far more like a thick vinegar. Do not overlook it because it has a unique sweet–sour flavour.
El Salvador: pupusas
Pupusa is the national dish of El Salvador, a maize flour pancake filled with a variety of flavours like refried beans, pork and cheese. Traditionally the pupusas are used to scoop and soak up salsa and coleslaw.
Mexico: tortilla
Once you bite into your first tortilla, fresh out of the pan, you'll know exactly why you bothered making your own. You can make corn tortillas using masa harina or corn tortilla flour, or just use bread flour and lard to make this version.
Italy: schiacciata
Crunchy, schiacciata is probably the ancestor of the well-known focaccia. It's the ancient bread of Lombardian farmers, keeping for days when they went out to work. Schiacciata can be eaten plain (it's popular with an evening glass of dry white wine) or topped with flavours, much like a pizza.
Armenia: matnakash
A flour wash gives matnakash a deliciously crisp upper crust that contrasts particularly well with its soft, slightly chewy texture. In Armenia, this distinctively patterned oval bread is still a core staple, eaten most days.
India: naan
Naan is traditionally baked in a clay oven, giving them their distinctive burnished exterior and fluffy interior. To get a similar result at home, you can use a combination of baking in the oven and charring over an open flame.
Turkey: pide
Perhaps Turkey's most famous flatbread (for there are many), pide is one of the easiest flatbreads to make. The addition of milk and egg to the dough brings a rich creaminess to the final flavour. Pide is another flatbread recipe that uses yeast, but the proving time required is only half-an-hour.
This filled Turkish pastry has become a staple at markets across Sydney and Australia. Made with soft dough rolled out until thin, it is then filled with any number of things, including the ever-popular spinach and feta. Here, we’ve used lamb, silverbeet and feta for a spin on the classic.
Italy: torta al testo
Torta al testo is a flatbread hailing from Umbria. It was traditionally made without leavening agents, but these days it's typical for a small amount of bicarbonate of soda to be added to the dough. Toppings like salami or prosciutto are served sandwiched between two rounds of this stovetop bread. It also makes a great sponge for any hearty Italian stew.
Sweden: polarbröd
This Swedish flatbread is similar to thick pita. It's soft, slightly chewy, has a light rye flavour and makes the perfect sandwich bread to split and fill. Gravlax, dill and crème fraîche is a popular filling choice.
Lebanon: man’oushe
Man’oushe takes its name from the Arabic word for ‘engraved’ because of the indentations made into the dough with the tips of the fingers. It's a relative newcomer on the Lebanese food scene, but it's quickly become a favourite for breakfast, served with olive oil and zaatar.
Ethiopia: injera
Injera is a staple for most Ethiopians. The unleavened bread is traditionally made from teff, a tiny round khaki-coloured grain. Teff can be found in some health food stores, but, alternatively, you can use wheat or cornflour.
This not your average lentil soup – Berbere spice mix is what makes it stand out.
A wat or wet is an Ethiopian red stew that uses the red chilli-spice mix called berbere and spiced ghee called nit’r kibbeh, and begins with a rich onion base. It's best made a day ahead to allow the flavours to intensify. This dish is traditionally served on top of injera bread.
Iran: nan-e barbari
Nan-e barbari is an Iranian wheat-based, leavened flatbread. It's formed into a long oval shape then brushed with roomal, a flour glaze which gives it a crisp golden crust, but keeps it nicely fluffy inside.
Afghanistan: bulani
The very popular bulani are pockets of Afghan bread filled with different vegetable mixtures and fried. Tear the bulani into pieces and dip into homemade plain yoghurt before eating.
Made from a batter of fermented rice, coconut and yeast, these traditional Southern Indian pancakes are light and crisp. Although usually savoury, these are a sweet version that is a fun dessert or sweet brunch twist.
When travelling in Italy last year, I asked my friend Laura who lives in Bologna what she thought was the most popular street food where she lived. “Tigelle, without a doubt,” she replied. “We eat them with a little prosciutto or cheese, and a glass of wine.”
Clap-hand roti is great to mop up tasty curries and sauces. Clapping helps release the air pockets and makes these Caribbean flatbreads lovely and light and flaky.
These super-simple Tanzanian flatbreads are cooked with egg to up the protein and nutrition factors. They taste great, too.
Traditionally, this popular dish from southern India is made with a rice and lentil batter that can be time-consuming to prepare. This bread uttapam, on the other hand, is easy to make and quick to cook, not to mention it tastes delicious.
Influenced by Middle Eastern traders, these breads are perfect on the side of your favourite curry.
It was so special for me to spend the morning with Nava, in her Bondi Beach kitchen, learning the disappearing art of making malawach from scratch. Back in our kitchen the next Monday, we were beside ourselves when our dough stretched to translucent. We rolled and folded it over with buttered hands – as she did – and then burnt our tongues eating the hot, flaky bread straight from the frying pan. ~ Lisa, MMCC
