Sangak

For the villages in Iran, see Sangak, Markazi and Sangak, Qazvin.

Sangak

Sangak flatbreads
Alternative names	Nan-e sangak
Type	Flatbread
Place of origin	Iran
Region or state	Khorasan
Main ingredients	Wheat flour, Sour dough, Sesame
Food energy (per serving)	75 kcal (314 kJ)
Other information	National bread of Iran
Media: Sangak

Two bakers baking sangak bread in a traditional oven

Baking Sangak bread in a bakery in Isfahan, Iran

Sangak (Persian: سنگک, Azerbaijani: səngək, Kurdish: sengek) or nân-e sangak (Persian: نان سنگک) is a plain, rectangular or triangular Iranian whole wheat leavened flatbread.

History

In Persian sangak means little stone. The bread is baked on a bed of small river stones in an oven. There are usually two varieties of this bread offered at Iranian bakeries: the generic one which has no toppings; and the more expensive variety which is traditionally topped with poppy seeds and these days with sesame seeds, and to less extent black cumin, caraway, cumin and even dried aromatic herbs.

Sangak bread was traditionally the bread of the Persian army. It is mentioned for the first time in the 11th century. Each soldier carried a small quantity of pebbles which at camp were brought together to create the "sangak oven" that would bake the bread for the entire army. It was eaten with lamb kabab.

The bread has always been widely eaten in the territory of present-day Azerbaijan, but following the Soviet takeover in 1920, it became less common. The Soviets opted for mass production of bread, an option which was not amiable to the traditional, hand-formed sangak. In neighbouring Iran, however, sangak never lost its popularity.

Gallery

• 
  Sangak bread inside the oven.
• 
  When the hot bread comes out of the oven (tandoor), it is hung on the wall to cool down.
• 
  Inside the bakery, one person is baking and another is delivering bread.
• 
  Sangak bread must be baked on rocks.
• 
  The baker is delivering the bread.
• 
  An interesting view from inside a bakery.
• 
  The actual size of a Sangak bread.
• 
  Sangak bread on an Iranian table.
• 
  Bread, cheese, vegetables, walnuts: a common nutritious Iranian breakfast.
• 

See also

• Barbari bread, Iranian leavened white bread
• Lavash, a common Armenian unleavened bread
• Taftan, an Iranian bread
• Sheermal, a saffron-flavored traditional flatbread iranian cuisine

External links

• Media related to Sangak at Wikimedia Commons