Pita

Pita (also called pitta or pita bread or Turkish pide bread) is a round flat wheat bread made with yeast. It is traditional in many Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines and is believed to have originated in Ancient Greece.

Related Topics:
Wheat - Bread - Yeast - Middle Eastern - Mediterranean cuisine

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The western name for the Arab bread called khubz adi (ordinary bread) or names meaning Arab, Egyptian, Syrian bread or kumaj (a Turkish loanword properly meaning a bread cooked in ashes), baked in a brick bread oven. It is slightly leavened wheat bread, flat, either round or oval, and variable in size...The name had a common origin with pizza...In the early centuries of our era, the traditional Greek word for a thin flat bread or cake, plakous, had become the name of a thicker cake. The new word that came into use for flat bread was pitta, literally pitch, doubtless because pine pitch naturally forms flat layers which many languages compare to cakes or breads...

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The word spread to Southern Italy as the name of a thin bread. In Northern Italian dialects pitta became pizza, now known primarily as the bearer of savoury toppings but essentially still a flat bread...Early Arab cookery texts do not refer to khubz, since it was bought from specialists, not made in the home. However, it is safe to assume that its history extends far into antiquity, since flatbreads in general, whether leavened or not, are among the most ancient breads, needing no oven or even utensil for their baking."

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Pita is used to scoop sauces or dips such as hummus and to wrap sandwiches such as kebabs, gyros or falafel. Most pita breads are baked at high temperatures causing the flattened rounds of dough to puff up dramatically. Once removed from the oven, pita then deflates but the baked dough remains separated inside. This allows pita bread to be sliced and opened into pockets, creating a space for various ingredients to be stuffed inside.

Related Topics:
Hummus - Kebabs - Gyros - Falafel - Baked - Oven

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In the United States, the term "pita" is also used to encompass burrito or sandwich like wraps which can contain any number of ingridients (often chicken, gyro meat, assorted vegetables, tzatziki sauce, and tabouli). The use of this term owes partially to the Pita's chain of restaurants, now known as Republic of Pita. These pita sandwiches are often marketed as a healthier alternative to conventional fast food.

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