Armenian Lavash

A few weeks ago, we were watching The Amazing Race when teams had a chance to make lavash the traditional way during a stop in Armenia. I couldn't get it out of my head but didn't have bread flour, so my baking project had to wait until I bought some. This is a simple recipe with endless variations, but I waited until I had an afternoon where I could have back to back 30 minute periods to rest the dough and bake the lavash in batches. I used poppy seeds, sesame seeds, and z'atar.

I poked around for traditional recipes and found a video made by an Armenian woman, translated into English. The comments are interesting because most of them are people from other countries, angry that she has "claimed" lavash for Armenia. Surely there are similar flatbreads in many cultures. And even I have made lavash, back in 2008 for a Daring Bakers challenge. I made more of a cracker version, slightly thicker than typical lavash. Of course I didn't have a traditional clay oven deep in the ground like the women in Armenia do, but I heated the pan in the oven at a very high heat.