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Lavash

Varieties of lavash
Type	Flatbread
Place of origin	Middle East - Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan region
Main ingredients	Flour, water, salt
Media: Lavash

Lavash (Template:Lang-hy; Template:Lang-fa; Template:Lang-tr) is a soft, thin flatbread of Armenian origin, popular in the Caucasus, Iran, and Turkey.

In 2014 "Lavash, the preparation, meaning and appearance of traditional bread as an expression of culture in Armenia" was included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. At the same time in spite of initial request by Armenia, UNESCO did not publish on its webpage lavash as of Armenian origin.

Etymology

Hrach Martirosyan tentatively connects Armenian լավաշ lavaš with dialectal լափ lapʿ, լուփ lupʿ, լովազ lovaz ‘palm, flat of the hand’, լափուկ lapʿuk, լեփուկ lepʿuk ‘flat, polished stone for playing’, լավազ lavaz ‘very thin’ and assumes derivation from Proto-Armenian *law- ‘flat’. He remarks that semantically this is conceivable since this bread is specifically flat and thin. He then proceeds:

If this interpretation is correct, the Armenian should be regarded as the source of the others. This is probable since, as Ačaṙyan (HAB 2: 308a) informs, *lavaš is considered to be Armenian bread in both Yerevan and Iran (being opposed with sangak for Turks and Persians), and in Tehran this bread is called nūn-i armanī ‘Armenian bread’. Similar data can be found also for other regions. In Dersim, for instance, lavaš is seen as characteristic for Armenian hospitality whereas the Kurdish entertain with sači hacʿ .

— Hrach Martirosyan

For more and for other proposals see լավաշ.

Background

Traditionally the dough is rolled out flat and slapped against the hot walls of a clay oven. While quite flexible when fresh, lavash dries out quickly and becomes brittle and hard. The soft form is easier to use when making wrap sandwiches; however, the dry form can be used for long-term storage (almost one year) and is used instead of leavened bread in Eucharist traditions by the Armenian Apostolic Church. In villages in Armenia, the dried lavash is stacked high in layers to be used later, and when the time comes to rehydrate the bread, it is sprinkled with water to make it softer again. In its dry form, left-over lavash is used in Iran to make quick meals after being rehydrated with water, butter and cheese. In Armenia the dried bread is broken up into Khash. Fresh lavash is also used with kebabs to make dürüm wraps or in Armenia to make burum which are wraps with herbs and cheese. According to the Encyclopedia International, "Common to all Armenians is their traditional unleavened bread, lav-ash, which is a staple in the Armenian diet."

Lavash is made with flour, water, and salt. The thickness of the bread varies depending on how thin it was rolled out. Toasted sesame seeds and/or poppy seeds are sometimes sprinkled on before baking.

Lavash is the most widespread type of bread in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran.

In Kashmir it is known as Lavase. It is one of the basic bread products; Kashmiri people consume it on a regular basis for breakfast. As a tradition, Kashmiri Pandits distribute lavase among neighbours, friends and relatives on several occasions, as a symbol of good omen and abundance of food. Lavase pieces with green walnut kernels folded between them are considered a delicacy.

This food is also known in English as lahvash or cracker bread.

See also

• Taftan, an Iranian bread very similar to lavash, but thicker
• Sangak, another Iranian bread
• Barbari bread, another Iranian bread
• Matnakash, an Armenian bread
• Lavaş cheese
• Tandyr nan (ru), a Central Asian version of flatbread made in tandoor (thick)

References

Notes

1. Most sources claim that it is of Armenian origin, including the The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food states that its origin is Middle East, most probably from Iran.

References

1. Albala, Ken. Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia, Volume 1. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood. p. 5. ISBN 9780313376269.
2. Khanam, R. (2005). Encycl. Ethnography Of Middle-East And Central Asia (3 Vols. Set) (1st ed.). New Delhi: Global Vision. p. 55. ISBN 9788182200623.
3. Goldstein, Darra (1999). A Taste of Russia: A Cookbook of Russian Hospitality (2nd ed.). Montpelier, VT: Russian Life Books. p. 185. ISBN 9781880100424.
4. "lavash - definition and meaning". wordnik. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
5. "lavash - Dictionary definition and pronunciation". Yahoo! Education. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
6. Gil Marks (2010). Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. John Wiley and Sons. p. 355.
7. "Lavash, the preparation, meaning and appearance of traditional bread as an expression of culture in Armenia". unesco.org. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
8. Martirosyan, Hrach (2010). Etymological Dictionary of the Armenian Inherited Lexicon. Brill Academic Publishers. p. 305. ISBN 9789004173378.
9. Adjarian, Hrachia. Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Dictionary of Armenian Root Words] (in Armenian). Vol. II. Yerevan: Yerevan State University. p. 308.
10. Encyclopedia international, Volume 2. Lexicon Publications. 1980. p. 39.
11. The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Making Classic Breads with the Cutting-edge Techniques of a Bread Master

External links

• Lavash in Dictionary.com
• International Journal of Food Science and Technology Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 469-479.

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