Hi again, Mary;

....
>> IIRC; matnakash is a regional name for a bread more commonly known as
>> Barbari. Use that, and you can find many recipes...
>
> Thanks for the suggestion. I took a look at the recipes that came up
> using that and they all call for sugar and oils. The ingredients on our
> loaves just list yeast, flour, salt, and water. But I'll give one of
> these a try and see what comes of it (still looks quite tasty)
Yeah, I saw that as well. I know that those breads are ancient and have
been made in one form or another across a large section of the populated
portion of this planet for something approaching a dozen millennia or more.
And as certain as I'm sitting here, I know that prior to about a hundred
years ago, the vast majority of it wasn't made with "yeast." Being a
dyed-in-the-wool sourdough nut, I've been fooling with converting recipes
BACK to what was probably their original state.

The sugar is needed as yeast food, and was almost certainly unavailable to
bakers that long ago. The SD critters use the flour directly and don't need
sugar. If you're going to use yeast, you'll need the sugar to give them a
wakeup call. But I don't think it'll detract from the bread. So go ahead
and use it. If you elect to go SD, then that aspect of it will go away...

I can't comment on the accuracy of the ingredient list you gave (I believe
you read it as you say...but that doesn't guarantee that it's completely
correct). All of my SD bread recipes contain ONLY flour, water, salt &
culture, and I've been quite happy with them. All of the "differences"
between the various breads I make (Rustic, Rye, Coccodrillo, Ciabatta,
Francesi, Poilane, and Provender) are due to blending different flours and
the handling/treatment of the dough before and/or sometimes during baking.
The basic ingredients are all the same...

Barbari is just one version of the many flat-breads that can be found in
that area of the world (greater Persia). They are all similar in most
respects. Lavosh is the same as Barbari, except it's unleavened. Matnakash
is little more than a leavened version of Lavosh sprinkled with seeds.
Given that, just leave out the fats and oils. All they really do anyway is
make the texture of the bread a bit nicer (different?) to eat.

But most importantly, have fun baking it!


Dusty
San Jose, Ca.

>
> Again, thanks for the help
>
> Best Regards,
> Mary
>>