Maza — unleavened barley flatbread, the staple of the Greek meal, slipped into the pouch (pera)
Traveler's Maza with Goat Cheese and Figs
TravelDocumented🧂facile30 min
A dense, rustic barley flatbread, kneaded without leaven, eaten with firm goat cheese and dried figs. Nourishing, sticks to the ribs, portable: the quintessential walking lunch.
Maza — unleavened barley flatbread, the staple of the Greek meal, slipped into the pouch (pera)
A dense, rustic barley flatbread, kneaded without leaven, eaten with firm goat cheese and dried figs. Nourishing, sticks to the ribs, portable: the quintessential walking lunch.
Taking the road at dawn? Good. Do not bring fragile fare that turns at the first sun. Do as the shepherds I guard: roast your barley, grind it, knead it with a little water and oil, and cook it on a hot stone. Slip into your pouch this maza, a wedge of goat cheese, and three dried figs — and you are set to cross the pass. I walk beside you; eat on the way, and we will talk of the business you are about to conclude.
Ingredients
- •Roasted barley flour (alphita) — three handfuls (nourishing base)
- •Water — as needed (hydration)
- •Olive oil — a drizzle (texture and flavor)
- •Sea salt — a pinch (seasoning, preservation)
- •Firm goat cheese — a piece (opson, protein)
- •Dried figs — a few (travel sugar, energy)
How it was made : Barley maza, not wheat bread, was the staple of the ordinary Greek — barley growing better in poor soils. It was often eaten raw (simply kneaded) or barely cooked. Cheese and figs were the most common opson, what one added to the flatbread to "relish" it.
Sources : Athenaeus of Naucratis, The Deipnosophists · Andrew Dalby, Food in the Ancient World from A to Z (2003)