Thursday, September 1, 2011

Discovering "Markouk" or "Saj" Bread

An interesting food "discovery" I made this summer was "Saj" or "Markouk" bread (sometimes spelled "Marquoq"). I ate it for the first time at a local Lebanese Festival here in Ottawa. I learned to love Middle Eastern food during the 10 years I lived in Jerusalem. For a few of those years I shared an apartment with an Arab girl, a fellow student at the Hebrew University, who introduced me to many of her favorite foods. But I don't recall ever encountering this kind of bread.














At the Ottawa Lebanese festival, there was a long line-up for the fresh bread, made before our eyes on a large round grill (called a Saj).














Then it was served warm, spread with cream cheese, and folded into quarters. Small Lebanese cucumbers were an optional accompaniment.

It was delicious!

How is this wonderful bread made? I wondered. And thanks to the Internet, I discovered... this link that show the bread being prepared.

Now I want to know: Where can I find a grill?! (And a large round pillow!) Both seem to be essential to making the bread.

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