Flatbreads: Old World Meets New

During the past 100 years, we have seen many changes in the baking industry. Regardless of the many forms it takes, bread is still one of the oldest and most universal foods eaten today. And while some bread is baked to great heights, others are left flat.

A flatbread can be described simply as a baked grain product often made without the benefit of adequate gluten or gluten development. It can be a single- or double-layer creation. It can be baked, fried, steamed or dried. It can be round, rectangular, square or of no regular shape. The dough can be from a sole type of flour or a mixture of several. The types vary by region, climate, holiday and culture.

The world is flat

The term “flatbread” means different things to different cultures, running the gamut from Hispanic tortillas and arepas to Mediterranean pitas, Asian roti and African injera.

Tortillas. One of the most-familiar mass-produced flatbreads is the tortilla—now as much a household staple in the United States as white bread.

Tortillas have been around an estimated 9,000 years and can be made from ground corn or wheat flour. In “Gourmet Tortillas: Exotic and Traditional Tortilla Dishes,” Karen Howarth notes corn tortillas are a staple of southern Mexico, while northern Mexico enjoys flour and corn tortillas equally. All tortillas are single-layer, unleavened products.

Corn tortilla ingredients include corn treated with lime; this “nixtamal” is then washed and coarsely ground to produce masa, which is formed into flat cakes, and cooked. They can be hand shaped, a vanishing art, or flattened with a tortilla press. In the Mexican tradition, they are cooked on a comal, a heavy, cast-iron griddle.

Flour tortillas are thought to have been developed in the 1500s after Spanish explorers brought wheat to the New World. The basic ingredients for flour tortillas are wheat flour, salt, baking powder, shortening and water. The process is similar to other breads, in that the dough is mixed, rested, divided and rounded, and then proofed. It can then be sheeted and hand stretched, and then baked, or hot pressed and baked. Commercially, flour tortillas are either hot-pressed or run through extruding rollers, sheeted, die-cut and baked.

Traditionally, tortillas have been used in place of a fork or spoon for scooping up rice, beans or meats. They can also be incorporated into dishes such as tacos, enchiladas, flautas or burritos. Another interesting dish is chilaquiles, a simple dish of fried corn tortillas in a red or green sauce with cheese, and sometimes eggs or chicken. It is considered something of a poor man’s dish, made from tossing together leftovers.

Pita. Another commonly found flatbread is pita bread, also called Arabic bread. It is the prevalent bread of the Middle East and North Africa. It is generally in 6-in. or 8-in. circles. The dough is made from wheat flour, dry active yeast, salt and water. The benefit yeast produces is a double-layered bread that can be separated in the middle and stuffed with a number of fillings. This makes it a good choice for a carry-out meal.

Lavash. Another popular flatbread is lavash, or churek, from Eastern Europe, specifically Armenia. Lavash is typically made of wheat flour, salt, water, sugar and yeast. It resembles a cross between a tortilla and a pita, but typically crispier, and may or may not be sprinkled with sesame seeds. Lavash generally has no identifying shape. This flatbread is soft and pliable when fresh, but hardens as it dries. When using hardened lavash to roll into a wrap, similar to gyros, it must be moistened to prevent breakage.

Naan. Naan (or nan) is a flatbread hailing from Central Asia. It may also be known as tandoor bread after the oven it’s baked in. It’s made with the usual ingredients—wheat flour, salt, yeast and water—plus yogurt, which gives the bread a chewier texture. Other ingredients, like onion seeds, garlic and Nigella sativa seeds (sometimes called black cumin) can also go into the mix. Like many flatbreads, naan serves as a scoop for other foods, or is sometimes stuffed with minced meat or potatoes.

Naan is cooked by attaching the dough to the side of a tandoor oven. Bakers use a special tool to attach and remove the naan from the oven wall; direct contact with the oven gives naan a nicely charred appearance and texture. It can be baked in a regular oven, although Glenn R. Mack and Asele Surina note in “Food Culture in Russia and Central Asia” that doing so will alter the bread’s flavor and texture since a regular oven cannot give the naan the charred appearance, texture and taste, due to the lack of direct contact with the clay oven wall.

Companies can duplicate such a charred appearance, texture and flavor by using tunnel ovens, replicating the tandoor design by creating a cross between a makeshift earth oven and a horizontal-plan masonry oven, operated with an open flame and the radiant heat cooking method.

Roti and chapati. Whether roti in the West Indies or Southeast Asia, or chapati in India and East Africa, this flatbread is made of wheat flour and water then lightly fried on a griddle. Although plain is common for everyday dining, it may contain flavorful additions, such as coconut for a funeral meal, notes Lois Sinaiko Webb in “Multicultural Cookbook of Life-Cycle Celebrations.” Both roti and chapati serve as utensils to eat dishes like stews, curries and dals.

Pizza. Although pizza can be considered a flatbread, it is not thought of as stand-alone bread. It is rarely consumed without the benefit of sauce, cheese and toppings. Pizza dough is made of wheat flour, yeast, salt, and water, and sometimes shortening and sugar. The pizza category is seeing some crossover activity as ethnic flatbreads replace traditional crusts.

Focaccia. Ancient Romans baked panis focacius, a flatbread we now call focaccia, in fireplace ashes. Similar to pizza, this Italian flatbread is often seasoned with olive oil and topped with herbs, vegetables like onion, cheese and meat. Focaccia dough is similar in style and texture to pizza, consisting of high-gluten flour, oil, water, salt and yeast. It is typically rolled out or pressed by hand and baked in a stone-bottomed or hearth oven. Puncturing the bread with a knife relieves bubbling on the surface of the bread. Another common practice is to create wells in the bread. Spreading olive oil on the surface of the dough before baking helps keep focaccia moist.

Arepas. Several flatbreads are fast becoming the “next big trend.” Arepas easily fall into this category. They hail from Venezuela and are made from finely ground corn flour, salt and water, and sometimes oil, eggs and/or milk. The cornbread is cooked on a griddle and can be used as a base for meat, bean or cheese fillings. They can be slit and stuffed like pitas, split in two like a sandwich or folded like a taco.

Injera. Another up-and-coming flatbread hails from Ethiopia. Injera is often based on wheat flour, but may contain multiple grains. Depending on the region and season, dough may contain barley, corn, sorghum or teff. Like sourdough bread, it uses a fermented starter (flour and water mixed and left to ferment), which provides a tangy flavor. After about two days of fermentation, the dough is steam-baked on a griddle of clay. It resembles a pancake or crepe and often lines serving dishes filled with stews. Torn pieces are used as combined utensils and plate.

Western flatbread action

As the popularity of the Mediterranean diet spreads, many restaurants have jumped on the flatbread bandwagon. Subsequently, wraps have become one of the new darlings of fast-food restaurants.

KFC and Sonic are just two of the many QSRs to offer wraps. Quiznos, Dunkin’ Donuts and Arby’s all offer some type of a flatbread sandwich or salad. Sales of these products have been swift enough that most of these restaurants have at least one regular flatbread or wrap menu item.

Other concepts continue to emerge in foodservice. The Sept. 15 issue of Nation’s Restaurant News listed several fine-dining restaurants serving flatbreads:

Farinata, originating out of Liguria, Italy, is a cross between a pizza and a pancake, generally folded and filled (when softer) or topped (crispier) with any number of savory combinations.

Sandella’s Flatbread Café, with 125 locations and hundreds more in development, has taken the flatbread concept and run with it, serving wraps, grilled flatbread pizzas, panini, salads, quesadillas and even rice bowls in flatbread shells. Nearly everything on the menu features flatbread, all of which is house-made in a brick oven.

The retail flatbread market has been expanding beyond pitas, and corn, flour and multigrain tortillas. Pattco, Inc. manufactures a number of Flatout® flatbreads in flavors like Italian herb, sun-dried tomato, spinach and chipotle, as well as multigrain with flax, white whole wheat, and light versions. The company also offers kids’ flatbread, either whole wheat or cinnamon.

Convenience foods are also benefiting from use of flatbreads. Retail frozen-food makers such as Stouffer’s and Heinz also offer flatbread pizza, panini sandwiches and spiral-rolled appetizers. Frozen flatbread pizzas have been hitting the freezer case with increasing regularity. A few specialty manufacturers are even making organic flatbread pizzas. One popular retail frozen flatbread pizza comes with organic tomatoes, tomato sauce, soy cheese and pesto.

Flatbreads often have a longer shelf life than bread. Many are shelf stable and will keep for 90 days unopened, then about 2 weeks opened in the refrigerator. And remember that the FDA defines a food product with a pH of greater than 4.6 as shelf stable only if it has a water activity of 0.85 or below.

The bulk of the flatbreads mentioned here may easily be prepared large-scale while maintaining the integrity of the original product. As we move toward a global community and the demand for more varied and healthy options increases, surely technology will prevail in producing authentic-tasting flatbreads.

Klaus Tenbergen CMB, CEPC, ASBPB, MCFE, is the Culinology® program director and assistant professor at California State University, Fresno. He is a member of the Research Chefs Association and can be reached through his website atknead-2-know.com.

Carolyn Pearce, a dietetic major at Fresno State, also contributed to this article.