FOOD NEWS
The Ancient Origins Of Traditional Flatbread
By Elias Nash
Flatbreads appear in cuisines worldwide, with Mexican tortillas, Greek pita, and Indian naan
being some of the most widely
known versions of the food.
These flatbreads generally come in two different categories: leavened flatbread, made with a rising agent, and unleavened flatbread, typically made with just flour, water, and salt.
Both types can be traced back centuries and could be the first examples of processed foods, but the unleavened variation can be traced back further in history.
Flatbreads’ exact origin is difficult to pinpoint, but some theorize that humans initially combined grains and water
to make gruel, which they cooked on heated rocks.
Many archaeologists credit its invention to the Natufians, a group widely regarded as the first agricultural society that inhabited the Levant region between 12,500 and 9,000 B.C.
Roughly 5,000 years later, the Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and Harappans made advances, introducing yeast and spacious, domed ovens to the process in the Bronze Age.