flipKhubz and Dates — Traveler's Flatbread and Dates
Khubz and Dates — Traveler's Flatbread and Dates
Why this dish? Her anchor notes mention: flatbread and dates were Stark's daily fare in Arab regions. Eating little, she often made do with a torn piece of bread and a handful of dates to get through a day of walking.
A flatbread of unleavened flour, baked in minutes against the wall of a clay oven or on a hot griddle, torn by hand to eat with soft dates. Simple, nourishing, the quintessential desert meal.
A traveler soon learns to be content with little, and I have never eaten anything better, on certain mornings, than a still-warm bread torn between the fingers. It is baked in an instant against the walls of a clay oven, it puffs, it browns, and you tear off a piece to wrap two or three dates. That is all: bread for strength, dates for the heart. When you walk all day under a great sun, believe me, that is quite enough to make you happy.
- •Wheat flour — according to the mouths to feed (bread base)
- •Water — enough for a supple dough (binder)
- •Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
- •Dried dates — a handful per person (sweet accompaniment)
Khubz and Dates — Traveler's Flatbread and Dates
A flatbread of unleavened flour, baked in minutes against the wall of a clay oven or on a hot griddle, torn by hand to eat with soft dates. Simple, nourishing, the quintessential desert meal.
Why this dish? Her anchor notes mention: flatbread and dates were Stark's daily fare in Arab regions. Eating little, she often made do with a torn piece of bread and a handful of dates to get through a day of walking.
A traveler soon learns to be content with little, and I have never eaten anything better, on certain mornings, than a still-warm bread torn between the fingers. It is baked in an instant against the walls of a clay oven, it puffs, it browns, and you tear off a piece to wrap two or three dates. That is all: bread for strength, dates for the heart. When you walk all day under a great sun, believe me, that is quite enough to make you happy.
Ingredients (period version)
- Wheat flour — according to the mouths to feed (bread base)
- Water — enough for a supple dough (binder)
- Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
- Dried dates — a handful per person (sweet accompaniment)
Ingredients
- Wheat flour (all-purpose or whole wheat) — 300 g (bread base)
- Warm water — about 180 ml (binder)
- Salt — 1 tsp (seasoning)
- Soft dates (Medjool or Deglet Nour) — 8 to 12 (sweet accompaniment)
Method
- Mix flour, salt and warm water to form a supple dough; knead 5 minutes then rest 20 minutes under a cloth.
- Divide into egg-sized balls and roll each into a thin round.
- Cook on a very hot griddle or cast-iron pan, without fat, 1-2 minutes per side until golden blisters form.
- Stack the flatbreads under a cloth to keep them soft.
- Serve warm, torn by hand, with a bowl of dates.
How it was made : The most rustic Bedouin bread is baked unleavened on a convex griddle (saj) or even on a hot stone placed on embers; some tribes bury it under heated sand. Dates, dried and easy to carry, complete this bread by providing sugar and energy—an immemorial duo on desert routes.
The contemporary twist : Slip a nut sliver or a dab of salted butter into each date: the warm flatbread becomes a hiking snack worthy of an explorer.
Sources : Freya Stark, The Valleys of the Assassins (1934)
Freya Stark · Charactorium
