102
votes
Accepted
Why did flatbread dominate the Middle East but Europe adopted raised breads?
I'm going to agree with Szczerzo about this being an anthropologic question, but I'm going to disagree about the cause. While nomadic lifestyles was an influence, it's not causative.
I'm also going ...
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33
votes
Why did flatbread dominate the Middle East but Europe adopted raised breads?
It's actually an anthropologic question.
It's more due to Europe being settled down while Middle Eastern peoples were still nomadic. Raising bread, even with agents, is very hard when you move or don'...
- 4,121
28
votes
Flatbread dough turned red
As Joe mentioned, there was something acting as a litmus paper!
Turmeric placed in an alkaline solution will turn bright red!
quoted from: https://foodcrumbles.com/how-turmeric-gets-its-color/
Most ...
- 451
19
votes
Accepted
Can you make crepes/pancakes on a stainless steel pan without oil or butter so that it doesn't stick?
No. Any starchy batter, without oil, fat, or teflon*, will adhere to a stainless steel pan, and will be removable only with a scraper.
(* or other nonstick surface, such as ceramic nonstick or ...
- 61.4k
14
votes
Accepted
What forms the pocket in Arabic/Pita bread?
The crucial ingredient is water - which turns into steam in a very hot oven.
Let me explain based on a standard pita bread process. A comparatively simple dough (flour, water, salt, yeast) is kneaded,...
- 58.7k
13
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Why did flatbread dominate the Middle East but Europe adopted raised breads?
It's also worth mentioning that many flatbreads have a rather long storage life. For instance, the Sardinian pane carasau is split and cooked a second time so that it could be used on months long ...
- 80.1k
9
votes
Accepted
Substitute for Beer in a savory flatbread recipe to make it halal
Beer is added for two reasons: flavor and - especially in rather liquid, pourable batters - for the fluffiness due to the carbonation.
The latter can be achieved with any fizzy drink, typically ...
- 58.7k
8
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between all these flat breads?
All of the 'flatbreads' you describe are generic terms which encapsulate many, many variants (e.g. there are dozens, if not hundreds, of types of 'roti' from cultures across the globe). So I'll have ...
- 784
8
votes
Accepted
Are bread improvers really needed?
The bread improvers that I have seen simply encourage gluten development to improve bread texture. They are often called for for use in bread machines because those machines are not as effective at ...
- 47.5k
8
votes
Why did flatbread dominate the Middle East but Europe adopted raised breads?
Perhaps the difference is not so much between leavened and unleavened as between flat and loaf. In colder climates, there is an existing need for a persistent fire, which has been lit for heating, as ...
- 1,865
6
votes
Why did flatbread dominate the Middle East but Europe adopted raised breads?
As @Marcin stated in the comments above, there are no sources for the answers given, and many of the answers have issues:
Materials, it may not be the prairie, but wheat, spelt, barley, and rye were ...
5
votes
Help me fix my flatbread
You shouldn't have kept adding flour. Baking powder recipes don't get kneaded, so they don't stop sticking.
For troubleshooting, do follow the recipe exactly as given. Don't do any substitutions ...
- 137k
5
votes
Accepted
Why "Pre-oiled Pita"?
It is really common to brush a pita with some oil prior to heating for an extra crispy treat. We sort of do that at my house, except be coat the heating device (a frying pan) with oil instead of the ...
- 3,591
4
votes
Help with rubbery roti/chapatti
If you are using the same dough then the issue lies in your preparation of the dough. There are too many variables to this, I would approach this systematically, eliminating variables as you go by ...
- 75.4k
4
votes
How to cook flatbread without oil?
My family always made these Chinese flatbread-like pancakes and we cooked them on a cast-iron pan (although it was more like a frying surface or something, it was flat, round, had a handle, but no ...
- 351
3
votes
Help with rubbery roti/chapatti
I appreciate that this is a pretty old question now, but I have had a similar experience myself with hit and miss rotis in the past. For me, the key has proved to be resting them before and after ...
- 131
3
votes
How to make chapattis round and of same thickness?
The problem is the rolling pin...
Indian rolling pins are thicker at the centre, and taper towards the end. This helps to spread the dough into a more circular circle.
- 31
3
votes
How do intentionally prepare oatmeal which is as sticky and gluey as possible?
This is all about hydration and gelatinization of starch. Similar principles apply to corn and oatmeal, but I'll concentrate on the latter since I'm very familiar with it from making porridge.
Peak ...
- 2,406
2
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Help with rubbery roti/chapatti
I find that there are so many variables in cooking that replicating a recipe "exactly" can be very hard. Here are a few pointers:
Are you using the exact same brand of atta flour? There are a lot of ...
- 987
2
votes
Accepted
How to make 'proper' Caribbean Roti
Your question intrigued me and I'm curious to know what these rotis are like. I make rotis often and have for a number of decades but I learned how originally from a Punjabi family. I don't really ...
- 3,963
2
votes
Help with rubbery roti/chapatti
My mother-in-law and I suspect it has to do with the cooking on the tawa, primarily because when I roll but she cooks it, it turns out fine. She can't tell what I'm doing wrong though then I'm ...
- 21
2
votes
Help with rubbery roti/chapatti
In the [similar question about chapatti], there are a couple of low-ranked answers that mention resting the dough.
When I've worked with pizza dough and similar, I know that if you work it too much,...
- 80.1k
2
votes
How can I make a soft Turkish bread?
So, I've checked some books (see below), and according to them you have two issues: (1) your finger dents aren't deep enough (puffing up), and (2) your oven is too hot.
All three of the recipes I ...
- 61.4k
2
votes
How to cook flatbread without oil?
A wide enamelled dish on top of the stove might work nicely. I've got a le Creuset that I use for all sorts of things, but my excuse for buying it was flatbreads, which it does very nicely. They don'...
- 43.8k
2
votes
Can you make crepes/pancakes on a stainless steel pan without oil or butter so that it doesn't stick?
There is some magical relationship between steel (or cast iron) and oil. Engines usually use steel (or cast iron) for the cylinder. These metals seem to have a sponge-like affinity for oil which ...
- 658
2
votes
Substitute for Beer in a savory flatbread recipe to make it halal
I would suggest looking for a Middle-Eastern or Indian flatbread recipe, most/all will not have beer in them.
Or use non-alcoholic beer.
- 20.5k
1
vote
Why "Pre-oiled Pita"?
It looks to me like the "pre-oiled" label assumes that you're going to be freezing your pitas.
Food Service Direct, which sells frozen Kronos pitas, gives these instructions for preparing ...
- 2,480
1
vote
Tortilla or flat bread breaks and ruins inflation
Only some flatbread recipes are expected to "fully inflate" during cooking. Mexican flour tortillas, in particular, will have bubbles up to around 2", but shouldn't puff up into a ...
- 27.1k
1
vote
How do I stop my flatbread from going hard like pizza crust?
Store-bought has had time to allow crust to soften.
The inside/surface moisture balances out especially when wrapped.
Mostly it's the other way around trying to hold onto crisp outside and still soft ...
- 5,434
1
vote
How to cook flatbread without oil?
A change in technique might help, at least to keep the dough from sticking. As for random dustings of burnt flour, they can probably be brushed out dry or just left till the cooking's over - even ...
- 11.8k
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