Craft
Flatbreads baked in clay ovens connect kitchens across continents.
Muslim Edit6 min read
Across a vast stretch of the world, bread is baked against the walls of clay ovens. The names change from country to country, but the gesture is recognisable: dough stretched, slapped onto hot clay, lifted out blistered and fragrant.
Bakers learn the work over years. Reading the heat of the oven, judging the dough by touch, timing each round by instinct rather than a clock.
As families migrate, the bread travels with them. Neighbourhood bakeries in new cities become places of comfort — the smell alone can transport someone thousands of miles.
Bread is also the most democratic of foods, shared at every kind of table. To break it with someone is, in many cultures, a small act of trust.
