Pita

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Pita bread
)
For other uses, see Pita (disambiguation).
In many languages, the word pita refers not to flatbread, but to flaky pastries: see börek for them.
Not to be confused with Pihta or Pitha.

Pita
Pita from Greece
Alternative namesPide, Khubz
TypeFlatbread
Region or stateEastern Mediterranean, Middle East [1]
Main ingredientsWheat flour, water, yeast, salt

Pita (

Arabic: خبز عربي; khubz ʿArabī). In the United Kingdom, Greek bread is used for pocket versions such as the Greek pita, and are used for barbecues as a souvlaki wrap.[3][4][1][5][6][7] The Western name pita may sometimes be used to refer to various other types of flatbreads that have different names in their local languages, such as numerous styles of Arab khubz (bread).[8]

Etymology

The first mention of the word in English cited in the

Aramaic פיתא (pittā), from which it was received into Byzantine Greek (see above). Hypotheses also exist for Germanic[15] or Illyrian intermediaries.[16]

The word has been borrowed by the

former Yugoslavia, this culinary item is known as somun or lepinja while the word pita is used in a general sense meaning pie
.

In Arabic, the phrase خبز البيتا (khabaz albayta, lit. "pita bread") is sometimes used; other names are simply خبز (khubz, "bread"), الخبز العربي (al-khubz al-ʿarabiyy, "Arab bread") or خبز الكماج (khabaz al-kimaj, "al-kimaj bread").[18] In Egypt, it is called عيش بلدي (ʽēš baladi) or simply عيش (ʽēš, "bread"),[19] although other subtypes of "bread" are common in Egypt, such as eish fino and eish merahrah.

In Greek, pita (πίτα) is understood by default to refer to the thicker, pocketless Greek pita, whereas the thinner khubz-style pita is referred to as aravikí pita (αραβική πίτα, lit. "Arabic pastry").

History

Pita has roots in the prehistoric flatbreads of the Near East.

earliest domesticated crops in the Neolithic period of about 10,000 years ago, in the Fertile Crescent. By 4,000 years ago, bread was of central importance in societies such as the Babylonian culture of Mesopotamia, where the earliest-known written records and recipes of bread-making originate,[22] and where pita-like flatbreads cooked in a tinûru (tannur or tandoor) were a basic element of the diet, and much the same as today's tandoor bread, taboon bread,[23] and laffa, an Iraqi flatbread with many similarities with pita. However, there is no record of the steam-puffed, two-layer "pocket pita" in the ancient texts, or in any of the medieval Arab cookbooks, and according to food historians such as Charles Perry and Gil Marks it was likely a later development.[1][24]

Preparation

Six pitas baking on a circular pan in a wood-fired oven
Pita baking in Nazareth

Most pita breads are baked at high temperatures (450–475 °F (232–246 °C)), which turns the water in the dough into steam, thus causing the pita to puff up and form a pocket.[25] When removed from the oven, the layers of baked dough remain separated inside the deflated pita, which allows the bread to be opened to form a pocket. However, pita is sometimes baked without pockets and is called "pocket-less pita". Regardless of whether it is made at home or in a commercial bakery, pita is proofed for a very short time—only 15 minutes.[26]

Modern commercial pita bread is prepared on advanced automatic production lines, processing 100,000-pound (45,000 kg) silos of flour at a time and producing thousands of pitas per hour. The ovens used in commercial baking are much hotter than traditional clay ovens—800–900 °F (427–482 °C)—so each pita is baked only for one minute. The pita are then air-cooled for about 20 minutes on conveyor belts before being shipped immediately or else stored in commercial

freezers kept at a temperature of 10 °F (−12 °C).[25]

Culinary use

Pita can be used to scoop sauces or dips, such as

gyros, or falafel in the manner of sandwiches
. It can also be cut and baked into crispy pita chips.

In

içli pide, where the filling is placed on the (often boat-shaped) dough before baking,[27][28][29][30] and Ramazan pidesi. The first type of pide is used to wrap various styles of kebab, while the second is topped with cheese, ground meat, or other fresh or cured
meats, and/or vegetables. Regional variations in the shape, baking technique, and toppings create distinctive styles for each region.

In

gyros usually garnished with some combination of tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, onions, and french fries
.

In

za’atar.[34]

In

phyllo pastry dishes (with the exception of baklava
which is always called that).

Pita is also present in the cuisine of the Aromanians.[35]

See also

The dictionary definition of pita at Wiktionary

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9780544186316
    .
  2. ^ "Pita". Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 2011.
  3. ISBN 9780970971685
    – via Google Books. The best-known bread of the region is khubz arabi (or, simply, khubz), a round, flat, slightly leavened loaf about one-fourth inch thick and with a pocket inside. It is made in three different sizes: large (eight or more inches in diameter), medium (six to eight inches), and small (about five inches). In America, where it has become very popular, this bread is known as pita. A pocketless version is also available. In some Arab communities khubz arabi is called kmaj (from the Persian kumaj), while in others, kmaj refers only to the pocketless type.
  4. ISBN 9780160380440
    . Pita bread originated in the Middle East and is also known as Arabic, Syrian, and pocket bread.
  5. ISBN 9780191040726
    – via Google Books.
  6. ISBN 9781558322271
    .
  7. ISBN 9780307558565
    – via Google Books.
  8. ISBN 9781439855652
    .
  9. ^ a b c "pitta". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  10. ^ Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Λεξικό της κοινής Νεοελληνικής
  11. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart. A Greek–English Lexicon.
  12. ^ Javna, John. Uncle John's FACTASTIC Bathroom Reader, Printers Row, 2015
  13. ISBN 960-86190-1-7
    .
  14. OED s.v. 'picture' nor by Buck, Carl Darling
    , A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages (1949). 9.85 "paint", p. 629
  15. ^ Bracvini, G. Princi (1979). Archivio Glottologico Italiano. Vol. 64. pp. 42–89. Cited by the OED.
  16. ^ Kramer, J. (1990). Balkan-Archiv. Vol. 14–15. pp. 220–231. Cited by the OED.
  17. ISBN 978-0471741725
    .
  18. ISBN 978-3-319-14687-4
    .
  19. ISBN 978-1-134-66525-9
    .
  20. ^ "World's oldest bread found at prehistoric site in Jordan", The Jerusalem Post, 2018, retrieved 16 July 2018
  21. ^ "Archaeologists find world's oldest bread and new evidence of sophisticated cooking dating back 14,000 years". The Independent. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  22. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  23. ISBN 9780226067353
    – via Google Books.
  24. ISBN 9780190265434
    – via Google Books.
  25. ^ a b McNulty, Mary (2007). "Pita Bread". How products are made. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  26. ^ Tanis, David (21 February 2014). "Homemade Pita Bread". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  27. ^ Colon-Singh, Rose (12 June 2012). "Make Flatbread | Turkish Pide Recipe". Fine Dining Lovers. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  28. ^ "Dayi'nin Yeri Turkish Restaurant, Cliffside Park, NJ". www.chowgofer.com. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  29. ^ Elise, Lola (16 December 2009). "Pide Recipe". Tasty & Healthy Arbuz. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  30. ^ Babs, Serena (17 January 2011). "Turkish Pizza aka Kiymali Pide". Tasty Kitchen. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  31. ^ Ιφιγενεια Βιρβιδακη, Νενα Δημητριου, Νικολετα Μακρυωνιτου, Καλλιοπη Πατερα, "Tα καλύτερα ψωμιά των Αθηνών", Γαστρονόμος, Η Καθημερινή, 21 September 2016
  32. ^ Ιφιγενεια Βιρβιδακη, Νενα Δημητριου, Νικολετα Μακρυωνιτου, Καλλιοπη Πατερα, "Tα καλύτερα ψωμιά των Αθηνών", Γαστρονόμος, Η Καθημερινή, 21 September 2016 [1]
  33. ^ "A Taste of Druze Cuisine". Tabletmag. 20 November 2019.
  34. ISBN 9781787019249
    .
  35. ^ Bara, Mariana (2014). "Constructing Armân/Vlach Ethnic Identity" (PDF). HyperCultura. 3 (1): 1–11.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pita&oldid=1215495622"