Saj bread
 Unleavened yufka bread made on griddle | |
| Type | Flatbread |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Middle East, South Asia |
| Main ingredients | flour, water, salt |
Saaj bread (Arabic: خبز صاج, romanized: khubz ṣāj, Turkish: sac ekmeği, Sorani Kurdish: نانی کوردی or nanî kurdî), also known as markook bread (Arabic: خبز مرقوق, romanized: khubz marqūq) khubz ruqaq (Arabic: رقاق), shrak (Arabic: شراك), khubz rqeeq (Arabic: رقيق),[1] mashrooh (Arabic: مشروح) is a type of unleavened flatbread in Middle Eastern cuisine baked on a metal griddle, called saj in Arabic.[2]
 | |
| Alternative names | Shrak, ruqaq, rqeeq, or mashrooh |
|---|---|
| Type | Flatbread |
| Place of origin | Middle East |
| Region or state | Levant, and Arabian Peninsula |
Markook shrak is a type of thin (almost translucent) bread. The dough is unleavened and usually made with only flour, water, and salt, and after being rested and divided into round portions, flattened and spread across a round cushion until it is thin then flipped onto the saj.[3] It is often folded and put in bags before being sold.[4]
It is commonly compared to pita bread, also found in Middle Eastern cuisine, although it is much larger and thinner. In some Arab countries, such as Yemen, different names are given for the same flatbread, such as khamir, maluj and ṣaluf, depending on the regional dialects. By Israelis, markook may also be referred to as laffa, though markook and laffa are distinct types of flatbread.
Etymology
[edit]
Markook (مرقوق) comes from the Arabic word raqiq (رقيق) meaning delicate, and raqiq also comes from the verb Raq (رق).[5]
History
[edit]Markook was also mentioned in the tenth-century cookbook of Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq under the name ruqaq.[6] He describes it as large and paper-thin, unleavened bread.[6]
German orientalist Gustaf Dalman described the markook in Palestine during the early 20th-century as being also the name applied to flatbread made in a tannour, although, in this case, it was sometimes made with leavening agents.[7]
Bread
[edit]Yufka bread (Turkish: yufka ekmeği) is the Turkish name of a very thin, large (60 cm [24 in]) unleavened flatbread in Turkish cuisine, also known under different names in Arab cuisine, baked on a convex metal griddle, called saj in Arabic and sac in Turkish.[8][9][10]
Arab saj bread is somewhat similar to markook shrek, but is thinner and larger.[11]
In Palestine, the saj bread is simply called shrāke (شراك), differing from the markook, which is baked in a clay oven (tannur).[11] Shrak is also popular in Jordan and is traditionally made ahead of Eid so that dishes like fatteh and mansaf can be served during Eid.[12][13]
Farasheeh (فراشيح) is a type of saj bread popular in the Gaza strip, its ingredients are simply water, flour, and salt, and sometimes semolina flour, after the dough is prepared, its cut to pieces and left to rest.[14][15] It is also made by bedouins in the Sinai Peninsula.[16][17]
In Cyprus, it is known as pitta satzis (πίττα της σατζίης, pitta tis satziis, i.e. “satzi (flat)bread” or “(flat)brad of (from) satzi”), also called kattimeri. It is eaten as a snack. The dough is lightly sweetened with honey and cinnamon.[18][10]
Stuffed bread
[edit]Gözleme is a savory, soft Turkish stuffed flatbread, cooked on the convex saç.[19][20]
Gallery
[edit]-
Kurdish bread (Iran) -
Qurasah (Sudan) -
Shrāke (Palestine) -
Yufka bread (Turkey) -
Markouk prepared by Syrian Jews in Jerusalem -
Baking markook bread
-
Markouk being prepared and cooked on a saj
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "طريقة عمل خبز رقاق - موضوع". موضوع (in Arabic). Retrieved 2018-11-27.
- ^ Addison, Bill; Helou, Anissa (2021-02-26). "Saj Bread". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
- ^ Elamine, Anthony Morano and Leila. "Rima's Saj Bread Film |The Recipe Hunters in Lebanon". The Recipe Hunters. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
- ^ "الشراك.. خبز يحظى بشعبية كبيرة في رمضان الأردنيين" [Shrak: A bread that is very popular during Ramadan among Jordanians.]. Al-Jazeera (in Arabic). Retrieved 29 September 2025.
- ^ "مرقوق".
- ^ a b Ibn Sayyar, Al-Warraq; Nasrallah, Nawal (26 November 2007). Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens: Ibn Sayyar Al-Warraq's Tenth-Century Baghdadi Cookbook. Brill Academic Publishers. p. 568.
- ^ Dalman, Gustaf (1964). Arbeit und Sitte in Palästina (in German). Vol. 4 (Bread, oil and wine). Hildesheim. OCLC 312676221.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (reprinted from 1935 edition), Photographic illustration no. 30 [Dreizehn Brotarten (Thirteen bread types)] - ^ "Kitchen Secrets / Some Saj' Advice". Haaretz.
- ^ Türk Dil Kurumu, Büyük Türkçe Sözlük search form Archived 2015-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Pitta tis Satzis
- ^ a b Dalman, Gustaf (1964) [1935]. Arbeit und Sitte in Palästina [Work and Customs in Palestine] (in German). Vol. 4 (Bread, oil and wine) (reprint ed.). Hildesheim. OCLC 312676221.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link), Photographic illustration no. 30 "Dreizehn Brotarten", 'Thirteen bread types'. - ^ "السماقية والمقلوبة والمفتول والمعلاق أكلات غزية تغيب في العيد" [Sumac, Maqluba, Maftoul, and Ma'laq are Gazan dishes that disappear during Eid.]. Al-Jazeera (in Arabic). Retrieved 3 November 2025.
- ^ "المنسف.. سيد الموائد في عيد الأضحى" [Mansaf... the king of dishes on Eid al-Adha]. Ad-Dustour (Jordan) (in Arabic). Retrieved 3 November 2025.
- ^ "Farasheeh, Long Lines and Lots of Walking - Palestine Chronicle Camera in Gaza". Palestine Chronicle. 30 November 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
- ^ "ملك "الفراشيح" في قطاع غزة" [King of "Farashih" in the Gaza Strip]. The New Arab. 9 Nov 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
- ^ "Farasheeh bread - Arca del Gusto". Slow Food Foundation. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
- ^ "الفراشيح.. حكاية أشهر أنواع الخبز في سيناء" [Farashih: The Story of Sinai's Most Famous Bread]. Masrawy (in Arabic). 3 Jul 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
- ^ "Pitta Satzis".
- ^ Koz, M. Sabri (2002). Yemek kitabı: tarih, halkbilimi, edebiyat. Kitabevi. ISBN 978-975-7321-74-3.
- ^ Halıcı, Feyzi (1993). Dördüncü Milletlerarası Yemek Kongresi: Türkiye, 3-6 Eylül 1992. Konya Kültür ve Turizm Vakfı.
External links
[edit]- Tutorial: How to make Saj Bread on YouTube (Arabic)
