[Sca-cooks] Questions about flatbreads

[david friedman]

Back in September, Maire wrote:

>Hi, gang.
>I'm working on bread recipes for our upcoming Harvest Court, at which
>the feast will be based on recipes from the Anonymous Andalusian
>Cookbook on His Grace's website. In going through the actual cookbook,
>and searching for "bread," I've mostly been coming up with references to
>bread or bread crumbs as ingredients, although a few of the recipes give
>clear enough instructions for the type of bread used in the recipe for
>me to be able to replicate them.

...

>Ideally, I'd like to do 2 breads for the feast...one would be puffier,
>and yeasted.  The second would be flatter and thinner, and possibly
>unleavened.

It may be too late to do you any good, but here is an unleavened
flatbread we have tried; it is recommended for tharid (crumbled bread
with stuff of some sort over it) but you could just use it as a bread.


Recipe for Folded Bread from Ifriqiyya
Andalusian p. A-59

Take coarsely ground good semolina and divide it into three parts.
Leave one third aside and knead the other two well and it is made
from it. Roll out thin bread and grease it. Sprinkle some of the
remaining semolina on top and fold over it and roll it up. Then roll
it out a second time and grease it, sprinkle some semolina on top and
fold it over like muwarraqa (puff pastry). Do this several times
until you use up the remaining third of the semolina. Then put it in
the oven and leave it until it sets. Remove it when tender but not
excessively so. If you want, cook the flatbreads at home in the
tajine. Then crumble it and with the crumbs make a tharid like fatir,
either with milk like tharid laban, which is eaten with butter and
sugar, or with chicken or other meat broth, upon which you put fried
meat and a lot of fat. Dust it with cinnamon and serve it.

3 c semolina	~ 1/4 c olive oil	2/3 c water

Knead 2 c of semolina with the water for about 10 minutes, until
smooth. Roll out to about 12"x12". Spread with about 2 t oil,
sprinkle on 2-3 T semolina. Fold in half, roll up, mash together.
Repeat about five more times, until all the last cup of semolina is
used up.

Roll out to about 12"x10". Bake in 300° oven for about 50 minutes,
until baked but not crisp (except thin parts).

Elizabeth of Dendermonde/Betty Cook