 Lahmacun with salad | |
| Alternative names | Lahmajun, lahmajoun, lahm b'ajin, lahmajo, lahmajin, lahamagine, lahmatzoun |
|---|---|
| Course | Main |
| Region or state | Levant[1] |
| Serving temperature | Warm |
| Main ingredients | Minced meat, vegetables and herbs |
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Lahmacun (/ˌlɑːməˈdʒuːn/lah-mə-JOON),[a]Lahmajun, orLahmajo (Armenian:լահմաջո),[2] is a Middle Easternflatbread topped with minced meat (most commonly beef or lamb), minced vegetables, and herbs includingonions,garlic,tomatoes, red peppers, andparsley, flavored with spices such as chili pepper and paprika, then baked.[3] Lahmacun is often wrapped around vegetables, includingpickles, tomatoes,peppers, onions, lettuce, parsley, and roastedeggplant.[4][5][6][7]
Originating from theLevant,[1] lahm bi ajeen or lahmacun is a popular dish inLebanon andSyria.[8][9] In the Levant it is part of a series of foods called, collectively,Manakish - flatbreads with toppings. It is also sometimes referred to as "Lebanese pizza".[10] It is also very popular inArmenia[11][2] andTurkey.[11] It is sometimes described as "Armenian pizza",[12] or "Turkish pizza",[13] or similar names due to its shape and superficial similarity. However, unlike pizza, lahmacun is not usually prepared withsauce orcheese[11] and the crust is thinner.[14] In Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine it is also known as "sfiha" (Arabic:صفيحة,romanized: ṣafīḥa,lit. 'thin plate' or'sheet').
The name entered English fromTurkishlahmacun, pronouncedlahmajun, and fromArmenianԼահմաջո (lahmajo), both derived fromArabicلحم [بـ]عجين (laḥm [bi-]ʿajīn), meaning "dough [with] meat".[15][16][8]
Flatbreads in the Middle East have been cooked intandoors and on metal frying pans such as thetava for thousands of years.[16] They have been used to wrap meat and other foods for convenience and portability. However, until the wider adoption inmedieval times of the largestone ovens, flatbreads stuffed or topped with meat and other foods were not baked together, cooking the bread and the topping at the same time. A variety of such dishes, such assfiha andmanakish, became popular in countries formerly parts of theOttoman Empire, especially Turkey, Armenia, Lebanon and Syria. A thin flatbread, topped with spiced ground meat, became known aslahm b'ajin (meat with dough), shortened tolahmajin and similar names.[16][8]
According to Ayfer Bartu, lahmacun was not known in Istanbul until the mid-20th century.[17] Bartu says that before the dish became widespread in Turkey after the 1950s, it was found in Arab countries and the southern regions of Turkey, aroundUrfa andGaziantep.[1]
InAssyrian tradition, lahmacun is served to those who are grieving the loss of a loved one, alongsideTurkish coffee and other dishes.[18]
Due to the hostile nature of therelations between Armenia and Turkey, the opening of Armenian restaurants serving the food inRussia was met by some protests.[2][21] In March 2020,Kim Kardashian, an American socialite and media personality of Armenian heritage, posted a video on her Instagram saying "Who knows about lahmacun? This is our Armenian pizza. My dad would always put string cheese on it and then put it in the oven and get it really crispy." This sparked outrage among Turkish social media users, who lashed out at her for describing lahmacun as Armenian pizza.[22]
The true origin of lahmacun is a mystery...
No one knows for certain whether lahmacun's roots lie in Armenia, or elsewhere in the Middle East. "The race to find where these ancient foods originated is not fruitful territory," cautioned Naomi Duguid, author of Taste of Persia: A Cook's Travels Through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Kurdistan. After all, meat-enhanced flatbreads are ubiquitous throughout the region...
We became a nation of lahmacun eaters. Fifty years ago no one in Istanbul knew what lahmacun was – or if we did, we called it pizza.
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