Lavash: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|FlatbreadBaked thin flatbread common in many areas}}

{{About|the flatbread|the Caribbean island|Lavash Island}}

{{Redirect|Lavaş|the cheese|Lavaş cheese|other uses|Lavas (disambiguation)}}

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'''Lavash (Also known as "Raul Gonzolez")''' ({{langx|hy|լավաշ}}; {{Langx|fa|نان لواش}}) is a thin [[flatbread]]<ref>{{cite book|last1= Kipfer| first1= Barbara Ann|author-link1= Barbara Ann Kipfer|title= The Culinarian: A Kitchen Desk Reference|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7xUafQwz2tkC| publisher= Houghton Mifflin Harcourt| publication-date= 2012|page= 334|isbn= 9780544186033|access-date= 2015-06-01|quote= LAVASH, LAVOSH, LAHVOSH, LAWAASH, or LAWASHA, also called ARMENIAN CRACKER BREAD, CRACKER BREAD, or PARAKI, is a round, thin Middle Eastern bread that is soft like a tortilla or hard like a cracker.|date=2012-04-11}}</ref> usually [[leavened]], traditionally baked in a [[tandoor]] (''tonir'' or ''tanoor'') or on a ''[[sajj]]'', and common to the cuisines of [[South Caucasus]], [[West Asia]], and the areas surrounding the [[Caspian Sea]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Alan Davidson|title=The Oxford Companion to Food|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RL6LAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA459|date= 1999|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn= 978-0192806819 |page=456 |quote=Lavash a thin crisp bread usually made with wheat flour made in a variety of shapes all over the regions of the South Caucasus, Iran (where it is often so thin as to be like tissue and can be almost seen through), and Afghanistan. It is leavened and baked in a tandoor. Lavash is served with kebabs and is used to scoop up food or wrap round food before being eaten. Its origins are ancient and it is also known as lavaş depending on the region. As in the other countries of this region large batches of this bread are made and stored for long periods. In Turkey they are stored on a board suspended by all four corners from the ceiling. The bread becomes dry and is restored by sprinkling with water and reheated as and when needed. Yufka is also a name for [[filo]] pastry.}}</ref><ref name="Marks 2010 - Lavash">{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Jewish Food |author=Gil Marks |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |year=2010 |page=355}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Morgan|first1=Diane|title=Skinny Dips|date=2010|publisher=Chronicle Books|isbn=978-1452100241|page=14|quote=Lavash, lavosh, or lahvosh is a gigantic, paper-thin, blistery, tortilla-like flatbread common throughout Armenia, Turkey, and Iran.}}</ref> Lavash is one of the most widespread types of bread in [[Armenia]], [[Azerbaijan]], [[Iran]], and [[Turkey]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/tastes-memory-lavash-and-armenian-identity-180958673/|title=Tastes of Memory: How to Bake an Authentic Armenian Lavash|work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]}}</ref> The traditional recipe can be adapted to the modern kitchen by using a [[griddle]] or [[wok]] instead of the ''tonir''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.saveur.com/story/recipes/lavash/|title=Lavash|date=February 26, 2020}}</ref>

In 2014, "Lavash, the preparation, meaning and appearance of traditional bread as an expression of culture in Armenia"<!--Note that the exact quote of the inscription is at the bottom of the cited page; the text of the nomination at the top is different and not what was inscribed--> was inscribed in the [[UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists|UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity]].<ref name=unesco>{{cite web|title=Lavash, the preparation, meaning and appearance of traditional bread as an expression of culture in Armenia, ''Inscribed in 2014 (9.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity''. Country(ies): Armenia|url= http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/decisions/9.COM/10.3|website=unesco.org|access-date=16 March 2016|archive-date=March 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317141436/http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/decisions/9.COM/10.3}}</ref> In 2016, the making and sharing of flatbread (lavash, katyrma, jupka or [[saj bread|yufka]]) in communities of Azerbaijan, Iran, [[Kazakhstan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], and Turkey was inscribed on the list as well.<ref name=unesco2>{{cite web|title=Flatbread making and sharing culture: Lavash, Katyrma, Jupka, Yufka|url= http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/RL/flatbread-making-and-sharing-culture-lavash-katyrma-jupka-yufka-01181|website=unesco.org|access-date=1 December 2016|archive-date=1 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201212008/http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/RL/flatbread-making-and-sharing-culture-lavash-katyrma-jupka-yufka-01181}}</ref> Lavash is similar to ''yufka'', but in [[Turkish cuisine]] lavash (''lavaş'') is prepared with a yeast dough while ''yufka'' is typically unleavened.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/portal/inceekmekyapmavepaylasmakulturu|title=İNCE EKMEK YAPMA VE PAYLAŞMA KÜLTÜRÜ|website=Kültür Portalı}}</ref>

==Etymology==

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Lavash is made with [[flour]], [[water]], [[yeast]], [[sugar]] and [[salt]]. It can also be made in an unleavened version by omitting sugar and yeast.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/lezizz/mayasiz-lavas-ekmek-tarifi-41496160|title=Mayasız lavaş ekmek tarifi|website=www.hurriyet.com.tr|date=16 April 2020}}</ref> Toasted [[sesame seed]]s and/or [[poppy seed]]s are sometimes sprinkled on before baking. Traditionally the dough is rolled out flat and slapped against the hot walls of a [[tandoor|clay oven]], but modern recipes may adapt for cooking on a wok or ''tava''.{{Cn|date=March 2025}}

<gallery mode=packed heights="150px" style="text-align:left">

<gallery>

Making of lavash.ogv|Two women making lavash in a small restaurant in [[Yerevan]], Armenia

Fabrication du lavash à Noravank (1).jpg|Lavash making in Armenia

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==In art==

Women baking lavash is a common theme that has inspired Armenian painters. One such, portraitincluding by the famous Soviet-era painter [[Minas Avetisyan]] is(1972).<ref>{{cite displayedweb at|title=Լավաշ theեն [[Nationalթխում. Gallery1972. ofՄինաս Ավետիսյան Armenia|Nationalurl=https://www.facebook.com/MinasAvetisyanHouseMuseum/posts/2754699678122309 Museum|publisher=Minas ofAvetisyan Art]]house-museum in [[Yerevan]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250609171658/https://www.facebook.com/MinasAvetisyanHouseMuseum/posts/2754699678122309 |archive-date=9 June 2025 |language=hy |date=September 19, 2020}}</ref> A print of the painting ''[[Armenian Ladies Baking Lavash]]'' by the Armenian American artist [[Manuel Tolegian]] was selected by U.S. President [[Gerald Ford]] to hang in the [[White House]] [[United States Bicentennial|Bicentennial]] Collection. The weekend open-air arts-and-crafts market in downtown Yerevan offers many lavash-related paintings and handiworks, with renditions of happy women making lavash having become a common sight.<ref>{{Citecite news |last1=Leahy url|first1=Kate |title=On the Lavash Trail in Armenia |url=https://armeniawww.smithsonianmag.com/travel/enlavash-trail-armenia-180968864/lavash | title work=[[Smithsonian LavashMagazine]] | access-date =April 2021-07-2820, | archive-date = 2022-02-132018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/2022021314271820250418060312/https://armeniawww.smithsonianmag.com/travel/en/lavash-trail-armenia-180968864/ |urlarchive-statusdate=dead18 April 2025}}</ref>

==See also==

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* [[Taftan (bread)|Taftan]], a thicker leavened Iranian bread

* [[Tandyr nan]], a Central Asian leavened bread made in a [[tandoor]]

* [[Naan]], aan Indian leavened flatbread made in a tandoor or on a tava

* [[Tortilla]]

* [[Laffa]]

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{{Cuisine of Iran|bread}}

{{Cuisine of Turkey}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Flatbreads]]