- Matnakash
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Matnakash (Armenian: մատնաքաշ matnakʿaš) is a traditional soft Armenian bread. The word matnakash literally means finger draw or finger pull, referring to the way the bread is prepared.
Matnakash is made of wheat flour with yeast or sourdough starter. It is shaped into oval or round loafs with longitudinal or criss-crossed scoring. The characteristic golden or golden-brown color of its crust is achieved by coating the surface of the loaves with sweetened tea essence before baking.[1]
Matnakash, along with lavash, a thinner Armenian bread, can be purchased from numerous bakeries in Armenia as well as places with large Armenian populations as a result of the Armenian diaspora.
History
Matnakash was honored in Soviet times. In the 1930s, food specialists in Soviet Armenia wanted to mark the new communist country with a more modern looking bread. The matnakash became a mass-produced urban bread. Even the bakers' patterns on the bread was re-interpreted to fit the soviet agenda. It resembled a plowed field with rows and furrows. The bread's rim was interpreted as an agricultural field and its imprinted lines as tilted rows.[2]
See also
- Lavash
- Barbari bread from Iran
- Tonis Puri
- Pita
- Naan
References
- ^ Matnakash recipe on Armenian Portal in Estonia. (Russian)
- ^ Armenian Food: Fact, Fiction & Folklore By Irina Petrosian, David Underwood - Page 35
Categories:- Armenian cuisine
- Turkish cuisine
- Breads
- Bread stubs
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