 Pita fromLebanon | |
| Alternative names | Pide,khubz |
|---|---|
| Type | Flatbread |
| Region or state | Eastern Mediterranean,Middle East andNorth Africa[1] |
| Main ingredients | Wheat flour, water,yeast,salt |
Pita (/ˈpɪtə/ orUS:/ˈpiːtə/;Greek:πίτα)[2] orpitta (British English), also known asArabic bread (Arabic:خبز عربي,romanized: khubz ʿArabī,Armenian:արաբական հաց,romanized: arabakan hats),Syrian bread,Lebanese bread,kmaj (from thePersiankumaj) andPide (fromTurkish), is a family of yeast-leavened roundflatbreads baked fromwheat flour, common in theMediterranean,Middle East, and neighboring areas. It includes the widely known version with an interior pocket. In theUnited Kingdom, the term is used for pocket versions such as the Greek pita, used forbarbecues as asouvlaki wrap.[3][4][5][1][6][7][8] TheWestern namepita 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 Arabkhubz ('bread').[9]
The first mention of the word in English cited in theOxford English Dictionary was in 1936.[10] The English word is borrowed fromModern Greekπίτα (píta,'bread, cake, pie'), in turn fromByzantine Greek (attested in 1108),[10] possibly fromAncient Greekπίττα (pítta) orπίσσα (píssa), both meaning'pitch/resin',[11][12] or fromπικτή (piktḗ,'fermented pastry'), which may have passed toLatin aspicta cf.pizza.[13][14][15] Other hypotheses trace the Greek word back to theClassical Hebrew wordפת (patt,lit. 'a morsel of bread').[1] It is spelled like theAramaicפיתא (pittā), from which it was received into Byzantine Greek (see above). Hypotheses also exist forGermanic[16] orIllyrian intermediaries.[17]
Some say that English borrowed the word directly from Modern Hebrew, which had revived the Aramaic term in the preceding decades.[1] However, native Modern Hebrew nouns are characterized by final stress.[18]
The word has been borrowed by theTurkish language aspide,[19] and appears in theBalkan languages asBosnian-Serbian-Croatianpita,Romanianpită,Albanianpite, andBulgarianpitka orpita; however, in the Serbo-Croatian languages of the countries comprising theformer Yugoslavia, the wordpita is used in a general sense meaningpie.[citation needed]
InArabic, the phraseخبز البيتا (khabaz albayta,lit. 'pita bread') is sometimes used; other names are simplyخبز (khubz,'bread'),الخبز العربي (al-khubz al-ʿarabiyy,'Arab bread') orخبز الكماج (khabaz al-kimaj,'al-kimaj bread').[20] InEgypt, it is calledeish baladi (عيش بلديʽēš baladi) or simply eish (عيشʽēš,'bread'),[21] although other subtypes of "bread" are common in Egypt, such aseish fino andeish merahrah.
InGreek,pita (πίτα) is understood by default to refer to the thicker, pocketless Greek pita, whereas the thinnerkhubz-style pita is referred to asaravikí pita (αραβική πίτα,lit. 'Arabic pastry').
Pita has roots in the prehistoric flatbreads of the Near East.[1] There is evidence from about 14,500 years ago, during theStone Age, that theNatufian people in what is nowJordan made a kind of flatbread from wild cereal grains.[22][23] Ancient wheat and barley were among theearliest domesticated crops in theNeolithic period of about 10,000 years ago, in theFertile Crescent. By 4,000 years ago, bread was of central importance in societies such as theBabylonian culture ofMesopotamia, where the earliest-known written records and recipes of bread-making originate,[24] and where pita-like flatbreads cooked in atinûru (tannur ortandoor) were a basic element of the diet, and much the same as today'standoor bread,taboon bread,[25] andlaffa, 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 asCharles Perry andGil Marks it was likely a later development.[1][26]
Most pita breads arebaked at high temperatures (230–245 °C or 450–475 °F), which turns the water in thedough into steam, thus causing the pita to puff up and form a pocket.[27] When removed from theoven, 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". Pita is traditionally served fresh from the oven (typically a wood-fired oven similar to apizza oven). It is best either soon after baking or on the same day, and can be served warm.[28]
Modern commercial pita bread is prepared on advanced automatic production lines, processing 45,000-kilogram (100,000 lb) 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—430–480 °C (800–900 °F)—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 commercialfreezers kept at a temperature of −12 °C (10 °F).[27]
Pita can be used to scoop sauces or dips, such ashummus, or to wrapkebabs,gyros,Sabich orfalafel in the manner ofsandwiches. It can also be cut and baked into crispy pita chips.
InTurkish cuisine, the wordpide may refer to three different styles of bread: a flatbread similar to that eaten inGreece andArab countries, apizza-like dish,içli pide, where the filling is placed on the (often boat-shaped) dough before baking,[29][30][31][32] andRamazan pidesi. The first type ofpide is used to wrap various styles ofkebab, while the second is topped with cheese,ground meat, or other fresh orcured meats, and/or vegetables. Regional variations in the shape, baking technique, and toppings create distinctive styles for each region.
InCyprus, pita is typically rounder, fluffier and baked on a cast-iron skillet. It is used forsouvlakia,sheftalia,halloumi withlountza, and gyros. InGreece the wordpita means "pastry" and is usually used for various cakes and pastries likespanakopita (spinach pie) andkarydopita (walnut cake) unrelated to the English language "pita" flatbread.[33] Traditional breads in Greek cuisine are leavened loaves,[34] such as the round καρβέλι karvéli or the oblong φραντζόλα frantzóla. This style of pita flatbread, in the English language meaning of the word, is almost exclusively used as a wrap forsouvlaki orgyros usually garnished with some combination oftzatziki sauce, tomatoes, onions, andfrench fries.
Druze pita is filled withlabneh (thick yoghurt) and topped witholive oil andza'atar.[35]
InBosnia,Croatia,Bulgaria andSerbia, the local style of pitta is known aslepinja,somun,purlenka orpitica, and is the most common bread served with barbecued food likećevapi,pljeskavica,kebapche or grilledsausages. The wordpita itself, on the other hand, is used forpie in the general sense in all local languages, and is mostly used forbörek or various sweetphyllo pastry dishes (with the exception ofbaklava which is always called that).
Pita is also present in the cuisine of theAromanians.[36]
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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 communitieskhubz arabi is calledkmaj (from the Persiankumaj), while in others,kmaj refers only to the pocketless type.
Pita bread originated in the Middle East and is also known as Arabic, Syrian, and pocket bread.
