Manakish (Levantine Arabic:مناقيش,romanized: manāʾīš; singularman'ousheh – منقوشة,manʾūše) is a popularLevantine pastry,[1] consisting of dough topped withza'atar (مناقيش بزعتر,manāʾīš bi-zaʿtar), cheese (مناقيش بجبنة,manāʾīš bi-jibne), orground meat. It can be sliced or folded, and it can be served either for breakfast or lunch.[2]
Traditionally, women would bake dough in a communal oven in the morning to meet their family's daily bread needs, and would prepare smaller portions of dough with different toppings for breakfast at this time.[3]Saj andtaboon are also common traditional cooking instruments for manakish.[4][5][6]
Manakish are popular across theLevant,[7][8] and can also be found in neighboring regions, and centers of Levantine emigration.
Instandard Arabic, the wordmanāqīš is the plural of the wordmanqūšah, from the root verbnaqaša (نقش), 'to sculpt, 'to carve out' or 'to engrave'; meaning that after the dough has been rolled flat, it is pressed by the fingertips to create little dips for the topping to lie in.[10]
Manakish is said to have originated inPhoenicia, where people would crush the wheat into flour with stone wheels to make bread.[11][12][better source needed]
An Arabic-language cookbook from the 10th century mentions recipes for flatbreads topped with za'atar and olive oil.[citation needed]
Za'atar (زَعْتَر,zaʿtar, 'thyme'). The most popular form of manakish uses za'atar (ground driedthyme,oregano,marjoram or some combination thereof, mixed with toastedsesame seeds, salt, and other spices such assumac) as a topping.[13] The za'atar is mixed with olive oil and spread onto the dough before being baked in the oven. Za'atar manakish is a breakfast favorite inLevantine cuisine.[14][15] It is also served as part of amezze, or as a snack with a glass of mint tea and feta cheese on the side.[14]
Cheese (جُبْنَة,jibne). popular types of cheese used on manakish include:akkawi (عَكَّاوي,ʿakkawī)[16] andkashkaval (قَشْقَوَان,ʾašʾawān). Za'atar is occasionally added to cheese manakish to enhance its flavor.
Lahmacun (لحم بعجين,laḥm bi-ʿajīn, 'meat with dough'), also calledsfiha (صفيحة,ṣfīḥa). Manakish topped withminced lamb are served for lunch due to their heavier contents. The minced lamb is mixed with tiny pieces of diced tomato and oil, and the manakish is optionally served with ground pepper or pickles andyogurt.
Kashk (كشك). This is a mixture of fermented drained or dried yogurt and finely ground wheat that can be used by itself or in combination with other toppings, such as walnuts or onions, spread onto the bread.[18]
Eggs. Sometimes the bread has a ridge to prevent spilling, sometimes combined with cheese;[16][19] this may be calledikras beid orkras beid (اقراص بيض,iʾrāṣ bēḍ, 'egg discs').[20][21]
^Massaad, Barbara Abdeni (19 November 2019).Man'oushé : inside the Lebanese street corner bakery (First American ed.). Northampton, Massachusetts.ISBN978-1-62371-932-6.OCLC1148154883.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
