Flatbreads are one of the world’s oldest breads, going back to when humans discovered that crushed grains mixed with some water and flung onto hot stones of the hearth produced delicious food. Flatbreads can be found in every cuisine on Earth, in an unleavened form, like in the origins, or risen on yeast or natural ferments.
They are also possibly the most versatile breads, good for scooping, wrapping or mopping up food. On top of that they are usually silly easy to make so anyone setting off on a bread baking journey had better practice on pitta or naans first.
My collection travels from Italian focaccia through Spanish pan de cristal and French fougasse all the way to North American cornbread. They may be flat, but they are certainly fully satisfying!
Ask anyone to name a flatbread, they’ll say pitta. This Greek and Turkish pocket of dough is very easy to make even for the uninitiated. Filled with lamb or chicken gyros, it makes everyone’s favourite street food.
Ciabatta is Italian for ‘old slipper’ and is a surprisingly modern invention. This Italian cross between a flatbread and a bread roll makes a panino when filled and grilled while toasted halves make a good bruschetta.
Spanish equivalent to ciabatta is pan de cristal, meaning glass bread. It is traditionally served topped with ripe grated heritage tomatoes making pan con tomate. But it also makes the best toasties ever.
These roasted red pepper and sun-dried tomato foldovers in simple granary bread dough are known as ‘slippers’ because of their shape, so an English version of ciabatta. Homemade sun-dried tomato paste, grilled peppers and rosemary make this quick bread recipe.
Focaccia is the best known flatbread, or more precisely a slab bread because it’s baked in a large tray. Here, plain focaccia with rosemary and salt flakes; easy to make, divine to eat, warm or cold. Authentic Ligurian recipe from Samin Nosrat’s Salt, Acid, Fat, Heat.
They make a sweet focaccia in Tuscany: schiacciata con l'uva (pronounced ‘ski-a-charter’ and meaning 'squashed'). Tuscan focaccia dolce is stuffed with raisins and decorated with grapes, very fitting for a traditional harvest bread.
And in France they have fougasse, made with various toppings. Fougasse with grated Emmental cheese, chewy and crispy French flatbread is the cousin of Italian focaccia. Make it with sourdough starter or bakers’ yeast – equally delicious and not at all difficult.
I refuse to class pizza as flatbread but I’m happy to include pizza dough based scaccia in the collection. Tomato and cheese Scaccia is a Sicilian flatbread filled and folded, and as much fun to make as delicious it is to eat. See the video showing how to fold thinly rolled out pizza dough.
Tomato and cheese scaccia
RECIPE
No oven, no problem: the beauty of flatbreads is you can cook them on the hob. Lavash, Middle Eastern flatbread often served with dips or kebabs, is easy to make and delicious, cooked in a frying pan with a little ghee.
Not unlike lavash but fluffier, puffier and more substantial, bazlama is a Turkish flatbread enriched with yoghurt. It is not only tasty: it’s absolutely spectacular when it cooks on a hot griddle, inflating like a balloon!
And finally, let me add to the collection a flattish North American bread cooked in a skillet. Cornbread, the easiest bread in the world, is crunchy on the outside, crumbly inside and tastes pleasantly gritty. It’s native to North America and delicious with a chilli, soup, stew or a warm salad.