There are so many different kinds of bread, there’s even a bread-only cookbook. We were looking through Bread, the breads of the world and how to bake them at home by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter the other day and saw some similarities in the varieties. A bunch of them weren’t the puffy loaves of warm soft bread that we know, but rather flat, yet not quite crackers either. Bread often stems from its culture’s origins.
Israel is famous for their cracker-like Matzo bread dating back to the Jews escape from Egyptian slavery. They packed up and left so quickly before the pharaoh could catch them, there was no time for any yeast to rise. At Passover Jewish families host a seder, where the youngest at the table asks The 4 Questions called “Ma Nishtana”, and the oldest at the table reads the aloud the tale of their ancestors’ liberation. It’s a very meaningful holiday that I have yet to see in person.
Apache tribes have a fry-bread that can be cooked in a frying pan because they could only take with them what they can carry on their back. There’s an authentic recipe HERE for your own Navajo tacos, or a sweet dessert. Skye’s grandfather Shidaleh, from “The Puzzle Place” made a batch in this episode. HIT IT, Weebus!
Naan and paratha are found in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India. They’re very soft and round. perfect for eating plain, or alongside curry and chutney.
Italians didn’t have much money in some regions, so most food was cooked with only a few ingredients. This flat bread called piadine, is only made with flour, water and olive oil. We picked this bread because it’s super easy to make and we had all of the ingredients in the pantry. All you do is mix the oil, salt and four. Slowly mix in a cup at a time of cold water and knead your dough for a few minutes. Let the dough rest, cut out small snowballs of dough, (That’s what the scrapper is for in the cutting drawer. IT looks like a scroll unraveling) roll them flat and finally pan-fry them like pancakes until you have crispy brown piadine.
We took it one step further and after some heat, we broke out the veggies and made flat-bread pizza! Make a funny face, self-portrait, picture of animals or places, or whatever abstract thing you can imagine. The yogurt can get a bit heavy if you don’t spread a thin enough layer. Don’t forget to cut your pieces of fruit and veg small so it can all fit and doesn’t give you uneven bites.
Clara made a face on hers with an orange mouth, carrot hair, avocado eyes and a tomato nose! Isn’t it cute, Lauren?
Hey, wouldn’t this be perfect for an arts party? Everyone can make their own edible palette. If you use the piadine as the canvass instead, everyone can eat their pictures! Isn’t that fun?Everyone can vote on their favorite face, who made the funniest face at a “Hunchback of Notre Dame” themed party, or Scariest monster for Monster/Zombie parties, maybe who designed the best makeover face for future beauticians or make a big mosaic out of them. Like Pappy Drewitt use to say on “Pappyland”: “There’s no limitation to your imagination!” Have fun!!