← Breads
Flatbreads
The first bread, and still the everyday bread across most of the world: dough or batter spread thin and cooked fast on a griddle, an oven wall or a bed of pebbles. The history (older than farming), the science of the puff, the griddles and ovens, a tour from lavash and roti to tortillas, injera and knäckebröd, how to make them on cast iron and a baking steel, and the claims that do not hold up.
What a Flatbread Is Thin, fast and made from almost any grain. The four families of flatbread, the four ways to bake one, and why so many of them keep for months. Explore →
The History Older than farming: the 14,400-year-old crumbs from Jordan (partly made of roots), the tannur, matzah's 18 minutes, a 1327 field ration, and frybread. Explore →
The Science Why a pita puffs — carbon dioxide, steam and air, not steam alone — why matzah is pricked, how injera works without gluten, and what lime does to corn. Explore →
Ovens and Griddles Comal, tava, saj, mitad, girdle and takke; the tannur wall and the pebble floor — and what stands in for each in a home kitchen. Explore →
The Middle East Khubz and pita (in Greece the pita has no pocket), lavash on UNESCO's list twice, Iran's four breads, saj breads, man'oushé and lahmacun. Explore →
South Asia Roti, paratha, puri and bhakri — and why naan, a tandoor bread, is not the everyday bread of most Indian homes. Explore →
The Americas Nixtamalized corn tortillas, the contested flour tortilla, arepas (masarepa is not masa), pupusas, johnnycakes, bannock and cassava bread. Explore →
Europe Scottish oatcakes and the girdle, Norwegian flatbrød and lefse, knäckebröd with its hole, and Italy's breads named for their tools. Explore →
Africa and East Asia Injera and its boiled-starch trick, msemen, what bing really meant in Han China, the stamped nan of Central Asia, and roti canai. Explore →
Making Them at Home Cast iron, a baking steel and a tortilla press cover almost everything. Heat, dough, layers — and the sixteen new recipes. Explore →
Corrections The claims the sources do not support: the 18-minute rule, journey cake, the ancient tabun, the Dutch patent office, and more. Explore →
Get new content
Occasional emails when something significant ships. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.