Numidya: Kesra , Berber (Amazigh) Bread

heads

or tails?

"A house without bread is not a house.."

That's how far many Algerian grannies would go.

Kesra (aka Aghrom Aqoran) in Tamazight (Aghrom = Bread. Aqoran= hard. Hard Bread.), iss a flat -usually round- bread, cooked on coal or Tajin.

As a lot of our dishes come as stews, broths and Tajins, homemade bread is very much called for. For me, I prefer homemade break to one from the bakery. I'd love to be a good baker one day as I have got a big passion for making bread.

What makes Kesra special is the fact that it's not baked, rather, it's grilled.

In the city people use either a Tajin base (made of clay or steel), or a Tawa ( I sometimes use a pan, it works perfectly well, too) but the Tajin has much better and original results.

However, in many rural villages, especially in the mountains and the desert, people have other methods to cook Kesra. Some bury it, with lit charcoal or ash, underground. Others cover it with the hot send of the desert and let it cook for a while. Also, some families cook it using burning hot stones.

I grill mine on a big deep-ish pan. No oil added, just preheat the pan.

Samolina is the main ingredient, some people may add other minor ingredients, depending on the region, but for me, I just add olive oil, salt and water. (sometimes, I put some yeast just to puff it up a bit)

This type of bread doesn't shred, it breaks. It can be consumed with anything, really... with butter, jam, honey, dips, Nutella, just by itself, or dipped in stews, are all good.