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In the ancient Egypt, people had
different diets, depending on the social status or wealth.
But one aliment was common for everybody's diet: the bread
(in Arab: aysh, which means life). Bread stalls were present
in the larger villages starting with the 12th century.
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The
flatbread was in the poor people`s meal, while the rich
people could choose from almost 40 kinds of bread. The
ingredients used to make bread in the ancient Egypt were
various, but the most used wheat and in the same time, the
best one, was the triticum aestivum. Also, the bread was
made from all kinds of cereals. The bread`s texture and
structure were different, depending on what flour was used.
Just like the actual Egyptian breads, the old ones weren`t
spongy, turgid or light. An interesting detail is the one
who says that in the ancient Egypt
was over 30 different shapes of
the bread, |
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including the round bread and
the flat one. The round bread still exists in the Egyptian
food and is called pita.
Today, in Egypt are three important types of bread (pita):
The white pita bread (Aash Shami) is made only from
inferior wheat (that is called aysh baladi), or only from
refined white flour (that is called aysh shami) and is the
most common bread in Egypt. This type of pita is almost
identical with the American pita bread. The Egyptian
sandwiches are made from this type of bread filled with meat
and not only.
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The dark crisp Egyptian pita bread (Aash Makamar) is similar
with other traditional bread from Egypt called Aash Balady,
only that the dark bread is baked for a longer time. It is
made from a mix of wheat flour skin with wheat flour.
Egyptians use dark crisp pita bread when they made fatta, a
lamb soup prepared in the Ramadan period.
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The dark Egyptian bread (Aash Baladi) is also made from
wheat flour skin mixed with whole wheat flour, it has a
round form, it is thick about one or two centimeters and has
a diameter of fifteen to twenty centimeters. The bread's
form is ideal for sandwiches and kebabs. The dark Egyptian
bread is hand-made and machine-made. The hand-made pita has
a lower layer covered with much bran.
The Egyptians breads are from various textures: very dry,
soft or just dry and can be bought individually. Some
Egyptians prefer to make the very dry pita a little bit
softer and wets the pita in running water and to passes it
trough a flame.
The Egyptian breads are used as spoons for some types of
foods.
If you intend to travel to Egypt and to try the tasty
traditional Egyptian bread, it will be no problem; in the
Egyptians markets and bazaars you can find, especially in
the morning, stalls with fresh and steamy pitas as well as
other Egyptians goodies that will tempt you with their
smells and forms.
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