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Lavash

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For the Caribbean island, see Lavash Island. For the cheese, see Lavaş cheese.

Lavash (Armenian: լավաշ, Turkish: lavaş, Template:Lang-fa)[1][2] is a soft, thin flatbread popular in Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus.

Lavash
Varieties of Lavash
TypeFlatbread
Place of origin Armenia
Main ingredientsFlour, water, salt

Background

In a small restaurant in Yerevan, Armenia, two workers are making a lavash.

Traditionally the dough is rolled out flat and slapped against the hot walls of a clay oven. While quite flexible when fresh, lavash dries out quickly and becomes brittle and hard. The soft form is easier to use when making wrap sandwiches; however, the dry form can be used for long-term storage (almost one year) and is used instead of leavened bread in Eucharist traditions by the Armenian Apostolic Church. In villages in Armenia, the dried lavash is stacked high in layers to be used later, and when the time comes to rehydrate the bread, it is sprinkled with water to make it softer again. In its dry form, left-over lavash is used in Iran to make quick meals after being rehydrated with water, butter and cheese. In Armenia the dried bread is broken up into Khash. Fresh lavash is also used with kebabs to make dürüm wraps or in Armenia to make burum which are wraps with herbs and cheese. According to the Encyclopedia International, "Common to all Armenians is their traditional unleavened bread, lav-ash, which is a staple in the Armenian diet."[3]

Lavash is made with flour, water, and salt. The thickness of the bread varies and depends on how thin it's rolled out. Toasted sesame seeds and/or poppy seeds can be sprinkled on before baking.

It is the most widespread type of bread in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran.[4]

In Kashmir it is known as Lavase. It is one of the basic bread products and Kashmiri people consume it on a regular basis for breakfast. As a tradition, Kashmiri Pandits distribute lavase among neighbours, friends and relatives on several occasions as a symbol of good omen and abundance of food. Lavase pieces with green walnut kernels folded between them are considered a delicacy.

It is also known in English as lahvash or cracker bread.

Possible origins and etymology

  • According to the American heritage dictionary lavash is of Armenian origin.[5][6]
  • According to the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food its origin is Middle East, most probably from Iran.[7]
  • According to Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia the word lavash is an Armenian word, consisting of two parts: The first one "lav" in Armenia means "good". The second part "ash" means "food, meal". So in Armenian it means "good food".[8][need quotation to verify]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.nisanyansozluk.com/?k=lavas
  2. ^ http://www.tdk.gov.tr/index.php?option=com_gts&arama=gts&guid=TDK.GTS.509b81f2485043.35729386
  3. ^ Encyclopedia international, Volume 2. Lexicon Publications. 1980. p. 39.
  4. ^ The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Making Classic Breads with the Cutting-edge Techniques of a Bread Master
  5. ^ Provided by wordnik.com website
  6. ^ Provided by Yahoo Education website
  7. ^ Gil Marks (2010). Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. John Wiley and Sons. p. 355.
  8. ^ Armenian Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. Armenian National Academy of Sciences. pp. 234–235.
 
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