Iranian Barbari Bread (نان بربری سنتی ایران)

If the members are interested, I will provide more details on barbari breads. Good day!

Regards,

Omid

Dear members, I thank you for your patience and generous compliments. Although I am not a professional barbari baker, I will do my best to answer your questions. Before I do so, allow me to make some prefatory remarks. Since bread, culture, and history go hand-in-hand, I will complement my remarks with some historical and cultural information germane to the subject matter.

Iran is a bread culture with a long history of bread-making. According to archaeologists, wheat was cultivated more than 9,000 years ago near the Caspian Sea in northern Iran. It is not fully known how many different types of bread exist throughout the land, but four of them are quite prevalent. Barbari is probably the second most mainstream bread in Iran. Until recently, barbari bread of Iran was unknown in the West. Since the commencement of the 21st century, it has been progressively gaining popularity among professional bakers and consumers in North America and Western Europe. More and more, I keep encountering barbari recipes in online journals and in cookbooks authored by Western bakers. There are few non-Iranian bakeries in the United Stated that have adopted barbari as part of their bread repertoire.

When I was a 9th grader in Iran, as part of a school program initiated by the Ministry of Education, I did one year of internship, one day per week, at a barbari bakery in Tehran. So, almost everything I relate here is based on what I learned during my internship.

§1. History of Iranian Barbari Bread

Barbari bread of Iran seems to have scanty and highly speculative history; no one seems to know for sure the origin(s) of this bread in Iran. Similar types of bread are also produced in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey under different names. Nonetheless, they can be distinguished from the Iranian barbari by the recipes, preparatory procedures, geometric configurations, and ovens they employ to prepare them, with the exception that Turks and Iranians generally use the same type of masonry, brick-domed, wood-fired ovens to bake the breads in.

In Persian, the adjective barbari (بربری) means “of barbars”. And, the noun barbar (بربر) means “barbarian” or “foreigner”. Some hypothetically attribute the barbari bread to the Hazara people (a people that are said to be of Mongolian and Turkic ancestry) who began to migrate from Afghanistan to Northern Persia (the modern-day Iran) about or over two centuries ago. According to this hypothesis, the Hazara migrants, whom the Persians referred to as the “barbars”, began baking the flatbreads in Northern Persia, which Persians eventually named “barbari bread”, the bread of barbarians/foreigners. It is said that Hazara of central Afghanistan are skillful bakers, and bread-making is one of their main occupations.

According to another hypothesis, the barbari bread of Iran is of Turkic origin. Keep in mind that the Turkic people (who are diverse people)—before migrating to northern Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and conquering Byzantium and Anatolia (collectively known as the modern-day Turkey)—inhabited the land that was in close proximity to the Hazara in Afghanistan. It is said that the Turkic people, similar to Hazara, are genealogically related to Mongolians. In the 13th century, the Mongol Empire encompassed much of Eurasia, including modern Afghanistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey.

Akin to the Neapolitan pizza which transformed into the New York-style pizza in New York in early 1900s, the proto-barbari likewise underwent a transformational process to reach its present form in Iran. Whatever might be the genesis of the Iranian barbari bread, it is an integral part of the culinary landscape of the land. It is believed that barbari bread has been mainstream in Persia since late 1700s, when the Qajar Dynasty (whose kings were of Turkic origin) began to rule over Persia.

§2. Geometric shape of Iranian barbari bread

The geometric shape of the traditional Iranian barbari bread consists of a flat, rectangular plane. The approximate measurements of the length, width, and depth of the flatbread are 60-70 cm (24-28 inches), 20-23 cm (8-9 inches), and 2-3.5 cm (0.79-1.38 inches), respectively. (See the picture below.)

Here is a picture of actual barbari breads which were professionally produced in Tehran, Iran.

The two widths of the flatbread are round rather than straight. In certain regions of Iran, the flatbread takes on a circular shape. Naturally, the provincial variations, in terms of the geometric configuration and dough formulation of the bread, have always been present. Reproductions of cultural products are not always immune to mutations. Nonetheless, the rectangular configuration is considered the norm. Within the last 20 years, there have been many new-generation bakers who do not adhere to the traditionally prescribed shape and dimensions of barbari bread.

To produce a barbari bread with the aforementioned dimensions, Barbari bakers measure each dough ball (technically known as chāneh in Persian) at about 650 to 700 grams. However, 700- to 900-gram dough balls, which make bigger breads, are not uncommon.

§3. Anatomy and organoleptic attributes of Iranian barbari bread 

The anatomy and organoleptic attributes of traditional barbari bread of Iran are as follows: 

1. Top Crust

• Description: “Top crust” (known as poosteh bālā) refers to the crusty skin that covers the entire top surface of the bread. (See the picture below.)
• Characteristics: The top crust is golden brown in color. And, akin to a good French baguette, the top crust is crisp in texture without being brittle or flakey.

2. Bottom Crust

• Description: “Bottom crust” (known as poosteh pāeen) refers to the crusty skin that covers the entire bottom surface of the bread. (See the picture below.)
• Characteristics: The bottom crust is lighter in color than the top crust. And, akin to the bottom surface of a good baguette, it is crisp in texture without being brittle or flakey.

3. Bulges

• Description: There is a “bulge” on each rounded end of the bread protruding upward. (See the picture below.) The bulges are technically known as gonbad, bālesh, or ghos, literally meaning “dome”, “pillow”, and “arch”, respectively.
• Characteristics: The two bulges are more inflated than the rest of the top surface in between them. The crumb within the bulges are airy and moderately elastic/chewy.

4. Grooves and Ribs

• Description: There are parallel “grooves” (sheeyār) and “ribs” (dandeh) extending through the length of the top surface of the bread from one bulge to the other. (See the picture below.) There is really no fixed number of grooves or ribs, which partly depends on (1) how well dough balls have ripened before baking, (2) the rheological qualities, i.e., the elasticity and extensibility, of the dough balls, (3) the weight of dough balls, and (4) the intended width of bread. The number of grooves ranges between 6 and 14, the most common being 8 or 9. As a general rule, more grooves mean less crumb. And, conversely, less grooves mean more crumb.
• Characteristics: The grooves are deep and do not extend over the two bulges. Moreover, the grooves should not make it difficult to separate the top crust from the bottom crust by using your fingers. In other words, the seams, created by the grooves, should be loose or tender enough to enable you to detach the top crust from the bottom crust without tears developing along the seams.

5. Crumb

• Description: “Crumb” (maghz-eh nān) refers to the entire inner, fleshy part of the bread enveloped between the top and bottom crusts. (See the picture below.)
• Characteristics: The barbari crumb must not be dense. The air bubbles/pockets in the crumb should not be of uniform shape and size; they are of various shapes and sizes distributed throughout the crumb. The crumb should be airy and light, moderately elastic, not doughy or gummy or glossy or translucent, not overly chewy, not bleached in color, subtly sweet and nutty in flavor, moderately or less than moderately sour if sourdough culture is used; not yeasty if baker’s yeast is used, and easily digestible.

The following video provides a good example of how the barbari crumb sould be like, although the video is about French baguette whose crumb is comparable to barbari’s:

French tourists who visit Iran occasionally view barbari bread as a “flat baguette”, yet there are differences between the two. When fresh, a barbari bread, as a whole, should feel firm, yet flexible enough—without being floppy or soggy. Baguettes, on average, are firmer than barbaries. The former usually bakes for a longer period of time than the latter at more or less the same temperature. Moreover, by virtue of the fact that one is flat and the other bulky, they bake differently, which impacts the crustal developments and flavors. At last, unlike barbari, no sauce is applied on the surface of baguettes before baking; instead, steam injection is used. And, baguettes are scored while barbaries are grooved.

§4. Barbari flour

The type of wheat flour used in making barbari dough in Iran is known as ard-e setareh (“star flour”). The flour typically has the following parameters:

• Type of wheat: soft Spring/Winter wheat
• Extraction rate: 82% (18% of the bran is removed)
• Protein (minimum): 10-11%
• Wet gluten (minimum): 25%
• Moisture (maximum): 14.2%
• Ash in the dry matter (maximum): 0.581-0.70%
• Insoluble ash in acid (maximum): 0.50%
• The flour is neither bleached nor bromated.
• Some millers blend a low percentage of malted barley flour with the star flour.
• Size of flour particles:

          50% of the particles of flour are smaller than 125 microns,
          30% of the particles of flour are at 125 microns,
          18% of the particles of flour are at 180 microns, and
           2% of the particles of flour are greater than 475 microns.

In general, Iranian flours are weaker than their American counterparts; therefore, they have lower “W” factors and, hence, ferment/mature faster.

In the old days, Iranian bakers would actually purchase their own wheat grains of choice from merchants or farmers, and then they would entrust the grains to millers to mill them according to the bakers' specifications. Some bakers would actually take on the task of milling the grains themselves. Such practices are still extant in some remote villages in Iran.

§5. Barbari dough composition

The traditional barbari dough of Iran is composed of only (1) wheat flour, (2) water, (3) salt, and (4) sourdough culture or baker’s yeast. There is absolutely no oil, butter, lard, milk, yogurt, eggs, sugar, honey, molasses, barley flour, baking powder, baking soda, or anything else in the traditional dough recipe. Within the last 20 years, the use of malted barley flour (about 1%) in barbari dough formula has progressively gained followers among barbari bakers of Iran. Besides accelerating certain enzymatic reactions, it is believed that the addition of malted barley flour prolongs the shelf-life of barbari breads when the dough is properly fermented and baked.

Since mid-1970s until present, a growing number of barbari bakeries of Iran have stopped using sourdough culture and have begun to use baker’s yeast instead. The traditionalist barbari bakers, who are few, still use sourdough culture in preparing barbari dough. In my assessment, each has its own unique merits when properly used.

There are two methods of producing barbari dough, either by using the khamireh yek marhale (meaning “one-phase dough”, otherwise known as the “direct method” or “direct/straight dough” in the West) or by using the khamir dô marhaleh (meaning “two-phase dough”, otherwise known as the “indirect method” or “indirect dough” in the West). The latter is more commonly practiced in Iran than the former, which requires a long and slow fermentation to produce excellent barbari breads. Inasmuch as barbari bakeries of Iran make three batches of dough per day (the first batch to be ready for breakfast at 6:00 AM, the second batch for lunch at 12:00 PM, and the third batch for dinner at 6:00 PM), they prefer to utilize the indirect method of dough production which is faster, more time efficient, and more productive overall.

1. “One-phase dough” (hereinafter referred to as “direct dough” or “direct method”) is a process of producing barbari dough by mixing all the ingredients—strictly excluding any preferments—in one single session, followed by a “two-phase fermentation” (first in bulk and then in balls) using either baker’s yeast or sourdough culture. If the latter, i.e., sourdough culture, it should constitute, unlike a preferment, a small percentage of the entire dough, i.e., no more than 7 or 8% of the weight of the formula water. (Old school barbari bakers measure the amount of flour, salt, and fermentative agent against the volume of water which is measured in liter. For the sake of convenience, I use the “baker’s percentage” in this exposition.) Some bakers utilize a method known as khis-o khāb (“soak and rest”), aka khamir-eh khis khordeh (“pre-hydrated dough”, which is comparable, but not identical, to the “autolyse” method propounded by the French baker Raymond Calvel) in conjunction with the one-phase dough. This basically entails premixing most of the formula water and flour, which rests for a period of time before mixing is resumed with the addition of salt, fermentative agent, and the remainder of water and flour.
2. “Two-phase dough” (hereinafter referred to as “indirect dough” or “indirect method”) is a process of producing dough by mixing varying number and portions of the ingredients in two separate sessions, which usually involves preparing a preferment (known as khamir-eh av’val, “first dough”, or pish-takhmir, “pre-ferment”) of sizable quantity to be mixed in the final dough (known as khamir-eh nahāyee, “final dough” ) at a later time. This method is also known as khamir-beh-khamir (literally meaning “dough-to-dough”) which is equivalent to a “biga”, “poolish”, “levain”, or “old dough”.

• “Biga”, otherwise known as pish-takhmir-eh seft, “low-hydration preferment”, is made of flour, low to medium hydration, and baker’s yeast.
• “Poolish”, otherwise known as pish-takhmir-eh sost, “high-hydration preferment”, is made of flour, high hydration, and baker’s yeast. 
• “Levain”, otherwise known as khamir torsh, “sourdough”, is made of flour, low or medium or high hydration, and sourdough culture.
• “Old dough” refers to a portion of the final dough from the day before, which is set aside and incorporated in a new final dough the next day.

In this sense, the barbari dough is prepared like the Neapolitan pizza dough when employing the direct method of dough production: water (1st) + salt (2nd) + sourdough culture or baker’s yeast (3rd) + flour (4th) which is added gradually until the desired “dough consistency” (i.e., dough density, viscosity, and coherency) and “dough strength” (i.e., dough elasticity in relation to dough extensibility) are reached. Or, when using poolish or levain, the barbari dough is prepared similarly to the baguette dough. In each case, the dough hydration typically ranges between 65 and 70% of the weight of flour. And, the salt typically ranges between 1 to 2%, sometimes even up to 2.5% under certain conditions. Dough fermentation takes place strictly at room temperature throughout the process for:

• 4-6 hours, 8-10 hours, or up to 12-16 hours when dough is produced by the direct method of dough production, or
• 2.5-16 hours for the biga/poolish/levain and 1.5-6 hours for the final dough when using the indirect method of dough production.

As you can see, the left-end of the spectrums are not conducive toward production of quality dough. As in the Western nations, the pressures and maladies of the modern economy, sometimes coupled with the lack of baking knowledge, compel some, not all, barbari bakers to opt for short fermentation timeframes, which, needless to say, produce breads of low quality. In the old days, it was commonplace for barbari bakers to formulate their doughs to withstand long fermentation time for the sake of better keeping qualities, digestibility, and flavor. However, many bakers have cut back on the fermentation time. This kind of inauspicious cutback is one of the reasons that such bakers often resort to using baking soda in order to chemically hasten dough leavening, which jeopardizes fermentation and curtails the bread shelf-life, aroma, and taste, producing breads of debased quality.

It is worthy of note that, professional barbari bakers always adapt the dough to the extant environmental factors (i.e., ambient temperature and relative humidity) in their bakeries, not the other way around. According to the traditionalists, barbari dough must never undergo cold fermentation. A competent baker always formulates the dough in a way that it can be adapted to the ambient temperature and other external factors.

Using the direct method plus two-phase fermentation (let us assume 10 hours in bulk and 6 hours in balls) at ambient temperature (let us assume 22-25˚C or 72-77˚F), a barbari dough formula may look like this:

• Flour (datum point)
• Water 68%
• Salt 2%
• Fresh baker’s yeast 0.03-0.04%

Alternatively, a barbari dough formula, using a yeasted, high-hydration preferment, may look like this:

• Flour (datum point)
• Water 70%
• Salt 2-2.5%
• Fresh baker’s yeast 0.05-0.1% (The baker’s yeast may be completely omitted depending on the ambient temperature, amount of preferment used, and the fermentative impetus of the preferment.)
• Preferment: The preferment, which is equivalent to a poolish in this particular case, is comprised of about 15-30% (or more) of the above flour, 100% hydration (taken from the water above), and a befitting percentage of baker’s yeast (calculated independently as a percentage of the weight of the 15-30% flour). Depending on how much yeast is used to inoculate the preferment, and depending on the ambient room temperature and the chemical properties of the flour, the preferment may take about 12-16 hours to mature at room temperature, whereby it is incorporated in the final dough which, depending on the quantity of the incorporated preferment and if additional baker’s yeast is used in the final dough, takes about 1-3 hours of bulk fermentation followed by about 1-3 hours of ball fermentation, all at room temperature.

In passing, let me interject by stating: Experience has taught me that, recipes make breads no more than sermons make saints! By analogy, I believe, a recipe is like a map, and as the great maxim has it, “The map is not the territory.” I think what are more fundamental than recipes are the underlying principles of bread-making and, above all, the artistic character of the baker.

§6. Barbari dough mixer

Fork mixer is the mixer of choice among barbari bakers in Iran. In fact, fork mixer is often referred to as the “barbari mixer” in Iran. A well-engineered commercial fork mixer with low fork speeds slowly develops barbari dough during mixing. In addition, it adequately oxygenates the dough without causing undue heat in it.  The commercial fork mixers in Iran have fork speeds of about 25 to 35 RPM for the purpose of preparing barbari dough. The double diving arms mixers have been gaining popularity among professional barbari bakers. The planetary and spiral mixers are the least desired mixers among professional barbari bakers. The planetary mixers are entirely shunned by the traditional barbari bakers.

§7. Traditional barbari oven

The traditional barbari oven is specialized for baking barbari breads. The oven, always built within wall, is a masonry, brick-domed, wood-fired oven with a circular hearth and relatively flat dome. (See the two pictures below.) What distinguishes the barbari oven from the rest of the bread ovens in Iran is mainly its internal geometry and the materials used in its construction. A typical barbari oven has an internal floor diameter of 300 centimeters (118 inches) and internal dome height of 60 centimeters (23.6 inches), which renders it a low-dome oven. Professional barbari bakers consider the “low”, “flat” dome as an important factor in baking barbari breads.

During baking, the temperature of the oven floor is maintained at 250℃ (482℉), and barbari breads bake for about 9 to 12 minutes, depending on the thermal conditions of the oven in conjunction with the degree of maturity of dough balls, weight of each ball, and number of balls inside the oven.

Devout barbari bakers of Iran are quite adamant about using the traditional barbari ovens in producing the breads. Besides the usual “conduction heat” (from the oven floor) and “convection heat” (from the internal oven atmosphere), baking barbari breads, akin to baking Neapolitan pizzas, requires “radiation heat”, principally from the light of live flames. The light of fire also enables bakers to see inside the oven. Hence, akin to baking Neapolitan pizzas, baking barbari breads is an interactive activity rather than loading all the doughs inside a dark oven and shutting the oven door until the breads are ready to be taken out. Baking barbari dough in the right masonry oven makes a significant difference in the textural and gustatory qualities of the breads. Of course, if a home baker does not have a wood-fired oven, it does not mean that she or he can’t use a conventional gas/electric oven to bake barbaries. I have known home bakers who have been able to procure good results baking barbaries inside their conventional ovens.

In passing, I should point out that, adoption of industrialized/mechanized, commercial barbari ovens and other automatizing bakery machines within the last two decades by new waves of Iranian bakers (many of whom are neither traditionalists nor professional bakers) have brought about unprecedented changes to the traditional composition and dimensions of barbari bread in order to render it machinable—often at the cost of diminishing the bread qualities. In addition, the ever-increasing demands for bread, which is an indispensable and substantial part of the daily Iranian diet, have effectuated changes in the overall production of barbari breads. Such changes are importantly predicated on the rate of production (quantity) as opposed to the quality of the breads. At last, the bread production and political economy have always been interlinked in Iran. The US sanctions in the last two decades have taken heavy toll on the bread industry in Iran. The orthodox bakers construe these socio-economic changes as imminent threats to the traditionalism of barbari and other types of Iranian breads. Therefore, one should not be surprised to encounter barbari breads, both inside and outside of Iran, that may not have much in common with my description of traditional barbari bread. Of course, my description is a construal according to my best understanding of the tradition. Thus, it is always open to revisions as my understanding of the tradition expands.

§8. How I prepare barbari bread at home

In this section, I will describe how I prepare barbari breads at home. I will also illustrate my descriptions with pictures of a bake session I had in the past. Because of certain logistical limitations in my home, I prepare barbari breads somewhat differently than is done in a professional barbari bakery. Nonetheless, the fundaments and guiding principles are fully observed. Here is an outline of what is to follow:

1. Barbari dough formulation within the context of the direct method and two-phase fermentation.
2. Mixing the dough ingredients.
3. Initial fermentation.
4. Individuating barbari dough balls.
5. Final fermentation and dough maturation.
6. Barbari sauce.
7. Finalizing (i.e., saucing, grooving, and seeding) the barbari dough balls.
8. Stretching, positioning, and launching the finalized dough balls.
9. Baking the barbari doughs.

§8-1. Barbari dough formulation within the context of the direct method and two-phase fermentation

For the bake session, I employed the following “target formula” (formul-eh hadaf), aka “provisional formula” (formul-eh movaghat), with the aim to utilize the direct method of dough production followed by a two-phase fermentation for about 10+6 hours at room temperature range of 24-26℃ (75-79℉). 

• Flour: 2200 gr. (datum point) Giusto's “High Performer Flour”
• Water: 1474 gr. (67%)
• Sea Salt: 44 gr. (2%)
• Fresh Yeast: 0.64 gr. (0.029%)

I chose the Giusto's “High Performer Flour” not because it is similar to the star flour, but because that is what I had available at the time. How the dough is formulated in relation to the surrounding circumstances in your kitchen, and to what extent the dough is rheologically developed (in terms of extensibility, elasticity, consistency, and homogeneity) during mixing—will have, at the end, unavoidable impacts on dough workability, strength, maturation, and bakeability. On this account, barbari bakers have devised certain utilitarian concepts, such as “target formula”, to assist them in the process of making and developing barbari dough.

To barbari bakers, “target formula” or “provisional formula”, is a point of departure, i.e., an initial assumption that, X amount of flour at X amount of hydration and X amount of salt will produce, by the end of mixing, the desired dough consistency and dough strength which, when using X amount of yeast, can carry the dough through X hours of fermentation at ambient temperature range of X in order to produce a well-balanced, well-matured dough of superb bakeability.

Per the customary protocol, the amounts of water, salt, and yeast in the target formula should remain the same throughout mixing, during which the flour is added gradually until the desired dough consistency and strength are procured. At this point, the mixing stops, even if not all the flour is used. The dough preparer may even end up using more flour than the targeted amount before reaching the desired dough consistency and strength. Therefore, while the amounts of water, salt, and yeast in the target formula remain unchanged, less or more flour than specified may be used during mixing depending on when the dough acquires the desired rheological characteristics.

The underlying rationale is that, each bag of flour has a different moisture content to an extent, depending on the conditions under which the flours were stored before and after delivery to bakeries. Moreover, the quantity and quality of the gluten-forming proteins seasonally differ to an extent. Although millers always try their best to produce consistent products, the protein and certain other chemical properties of flour change from season to season and harvest to harvest depending on the conditions under which wheats are grown and harvested. At last, the ambient temperature, flour temperature, water temperature, and relative humidity are usually in a state of flux and have impacts on the formation of dough during mixing. Therefore, according to professional barbari bakers, it is a prudent course of action to add the flour gradually, as will be described in §8-2, during mixing until the desired dough consistency and strength are reached.

§8-2. Mixing the dough ingredients within the context of the direct method

Per the tradition and for practical reasons, the entire formula water should be the first ingredient to enter the mixer bowl before the flour is introduced therein. (This way, according to Barbari bakers, the dough formation is facilitated. If the entire flour is placed in the mixer bowl before the water, the subsequent mixing action is more likely to cause friction and, hence, heat in the dough.) After water is placed in the mixer bowl, all the salt is thoroughly dissolved therein followed by a few scoops of flour thoroughly mixed and absorbed into the brine. Next, fresh yeast or sourdough starter is dissolved in the mixture. At last, flour is added as follows: 

• First, 2/3rd or 3/4th of the flour is placed in the mixer bowl, either all at once or scoop by scoop without interruptions.
• Second, when most of the flour is absorbed and a wet, patchy dough is formed, the remaining 1/3rd or 1/4th of the flour is added gradually and steadily until the desired dough consistency and strength—aligned with the projected degree of strength and maturation of the ensuing dough balls prior to baking—is reached.

So, again, in preparing my barbari dough under the relevant conditions at the time, I employed the following target formula, aiming to carry out about 16 hours of fermentation at the natural room temperature (24-26℃ or 75-79℉).

• Flour: 2200 gr. (Datum Point) Giusto's “High Performer Flour”
• Water: 1474 gr. (67%)
• Sea Salt: 44 gr. (2%)
• Fresh Yeast: 0.64 gr. (0.029%)

For mixing the dough, I used a Santos fork mixer. By the time the dough acquired the desired characteristics and mixing concluded thereupon, I had 68 grams of leftover flour. So, I used only 2132 grams of the 2200 grams of flour, which made my final dough formula look like this:

• Flour: 2132 gr. (Datum Point)
• Water: 1474 gr. (69.14%)
• Sea Salt: 44 gr. (2.06%)
• Fresh Yeast: 0.64 gr. (0.030%)

Notice that the “amounts” of water, salt, and fresh yeast remained unchanged, but their “percentages”, in relation to the weight of flour, changed. The most significant change was the hydration ratio, which increased from 67% to 69.14%. Below is a picture of the dough upon the end of mixing. (See the picture below.)

How much should a barbari dough be mixed? In principle, the amount of mixing should be proportionate to the development of a sound degree of dough consistency and dough strength by the end of mixing. And, a proper degree of dough consistency and dough strength obtained at the end of mixing should be proportionate to:

• An auspicious degree of starch hydrolysis (whereby the starch molecules are enzymatically reduced to simpler sugar molecules) taking place after mixing and before baking;
• An auspicious degree of fermentation (whereby the yeast cells anaerobically metabolize the fermentable sugars of dough and generate ethanol, carbon dioxide, organic acids, and other chemical compounds) taking place after mixing and before baking; 
• An auspicious degree of proteolysis (whereby the protein molecules, e.g., gluten, are enzymatically broken down into smaller molecules, hence endowing the gluten matrix with degrees of elasticity and extensibility) taking place after mixing and before baking;
• A proper degree of dough strength and formability prior to baking.

§8-3. Initial fermentation (1st phase)

After mixing was over, I let the dough mass undergo the first phase of fermentation, known as “initial fermentation” (takhmir-eh avalieh), inside the mixer bowl at room temperature 24-26℃ (75-79℉). By the end of this stage of dough fermentation, which took about 10 hours, the dough had slightly risen. At this point, the dough should not have a stringy and spongy texture filled with multitude of visible carbon dioxide bubbles, which is symptomatic, as far as barbari dough is concerned, of excessive degree of dough fermentation.

§8-4. Individuating barbari dough balls after the end of initial fermentation

After about 10 hours of initial fermentation, I took the dough mass out of the mixer bowl and let it rest for 15-20 minutes to relax. Then, I formed, i.e., pre-shaped, barbari dough balls and placed them inside a dough tray/box. (See the picture below.) When making dough balls, large carbon dioxide bubbles should not emerge to the surface of the balls. Such bubbles may indicate that the initial fermentation has gone far.

I currently measure each dough ball at about 370-380 grams, which yields a mini barbari bread 40 by 18 centimeter (16 by 7 inches). Because of the small size of my wood-fired oven, I am unable to make full size barbari breads.

Generally, dough trays are not used in barbari bakeries in Iran. Instead, barbari bakers use large wooden or stainless steel workbenches on which the dough balls are laid and covered with tightly knitted burlaps. However, they may use wooden dough boxes if there is not enough space on workbenches.

§8-5. Final fermentation (2nd phase) and dough maturation

After I formed the dough balls and placed them inside the dough tray, they underwent the second phase of fermentation, known as “final fermentation” (takhmir-eh nahāyee), for about 6 hours at room temperature until they were ripe or mature enough to be baked. (See the picture below.) Here, dough “ripeness” or “maturation” is indicative, among other things, of an indispensable balance between dough extensibility and elasticity, whereby the dough is capable of being almost effortlessly stretched to a proper length without being unstable, compromised, and deformed.

§8-6. Barbari sauce (roomāl)

About an hour before baking the dough balls, I prepared the barbari sauce, known as roomāl, which is traditionally composed of wheat flour gelatinized in hot water. (See the picture below.) Shortly before baking begins, the sauce is rubbed on the entire top surface of the barbari dough balls so that the dough would not stick to the fingertips when impressing deep grooves in it. More importantly, the sauce enhances the texture, browning, and taste of the top crust. Therefore, the sauce is a major part of the operation and should not be taken lightly.

On certain days of festivity, brewed saffron is added to the sauce in addition to adding small chunks of fresh rotab dates to the dough before mixing. I will describe how to prepare the barbari sauce in §9, below.

§8-7. Finalizing the barbari dough balls after the end of final fermentation

Before baking the ripened dough balls, they need to be “finalized” (nahāyee kardan), that is, they need to be sauced, grooved, and seeded right before being stretched, placed on a launching peel, and launched in the oven.

So, I extracted three of the mature dough balls out of the dough tray and placed them on a workbench covered with wheat bran. (Whole wheat, whole brown rice, white rice, or white flour can be used if wheat bran is not available.) Then, I gently flattened the dough balls a bit (so later the sauce would not run off) and gave them a more or less square/rectangular shape. (See the picture below.)

Next, I covered the dough balls and let them rest for about 5-10 minutes in order to relax. Before finalizing the dough balls, they need to be sufficiently relaxed and shapable to the point of being easily stretched while upholding their own structural integrity.

Meanwhile, I made sure that my wood-fired oven, fueled with propane gas, maintained the right temperature, about 250°C  (482°F) on the floor. (See the picture below.) If the floor temperature is beyond 260°C (500°F), barbari doughs may be subjected to excessive oven-spring during baking, which may undo the grooves. Because of the small size of my oven (63.5 cm or 25 inches in internal floor diameter), I am unable to use live wood-fire for baking my breads. The traditional barbari ovens of Iran are necessarily large, making it easy to use wood-fire. However, because of the governmental regulations and limited supply of firewood, the big-city bakeries of Iran currently use fossil fuel, such as gas, in order to heat up their ovens.

After the dough balls rested for 5-10 minutes, I poured about 2 teaspoons of the barbari sauce on each. Using my fingers, I evenly smeared the sauce over the entire face of the dough balls without applying undue pressure. (Care should be taken not to apply excessive amount of the sauce, which may have a negative impact on formation of the the top crust and its browning during baking. Moreover, the excess sauce may gather inside the grooves and cause puddles.)

Next, using the fingertips of my both hands (avoid long finger nails), I impressed parallel grooves onto the dough balls. Aligned together in a straight line, the fingertips of the right and left hands should:

• First, dip deep in the dough (all the way down to the bottom without puncturing it),
• Second, slide for a short distance to opposite directions to homogenize and seal the groove, and
• Third, disengage from the dough. (See the picture below.)

Next, following a groove pattern shown in the picture below, the same procedure is repeated until the dough is populated with continuous, parallel grooves.

The entire perimeter of dough balls should be left untouched; the grooves should not extend over them. Proper grooving should simultaneously stretch a dough ball lengthwise and widthwise to an extent. The grooves are equivalent to scoring a baguette dough in order to regulate the amount of oven-spring during baking.

Some new generation bakers use the blade of a plastic dough scraper, or a similarly fashioned tool, in order to groove barbari doughs, which end up looking odd after baked, with unusual oven-spring and bloated ribs that often cancel out the deep grooves. Traditionally, no other tools other than fingertips should be employed to make the grooves. In doing so, the dough should not be scarred or punctured. It is important not to use undue force in grooving the dough. When the dough has the right physical constitution, making the grooves goes smoothly with no difficulties.  

Manually impressing the grooves is a critical part of the operation. If they are not properly impressed onto a dough, the oven-spring can be negatively impacted, which may have concomitant effects on the texture of the final product. If the dough loses its buoyancy or collapses unto itself after grooved, then it does not have the right physical constitution. Avoid re-grooving the grooves that have already been made. If the dough has the right rheological constitution and the grooves are properly made at the first try, there will be no need to reinforce the grooves by re-grooving them, which may unduly toughen the crumb and diminish its fluffy texture. A method of grooving barbari dough is demonstrated in the beginning of the following Youtube video:

After I sauced and grooved the dough balls, I sprinkled raw, not roasted, sesame seeds on the barbari doughs. (See the picture below.)

Alternatively, black caraway seeds (Nigella sativa) or both sesame and black caraway seeds can be used, or no seeds at all. For your information, black caraway seeds are also known as “black cumin seeds” in the US. From my perspective, sesame seeds can add a delightful dimension to the flavor of the bread. Some barbari bakers prefer to forgo addition of any seeds in order to appreciate the innate flavors of the bread by itself. Traditional barbari bakers advise us not to sprinkle excessive amount of seeds on dough balls, for the seeds are there to accentuate—not dominate—the subtle flavors of the bread.

§8-8. Stretching, positioning, and launching the finalized dough balls

After I flattened, sauced, grooved, and seeded the three barbari dough balls, I (1) picked up the first dough, (2) stretched it lengthwise, and (3) placed it on the wooden launching peel. (See the picture below.) The three-step sequence of actions is collectively known as bār kardan.

How a barbari dough is manually picked up, stretched, and positioned on a launching peel is another critical part of the operation. A fair percentage of successfully producing a barbari bread depends on how skillfully this part of the operation is executed. It requires agile and decisive movements of the hands to execute it properly. Here’s how it is traditionally done:

• Before you begin, the lengths of the finalized dough should be facing you. With your right-hand fingers, softly grab and lift an edge somewhere along the length of the dough and quickly insert your left hand, palm up and fingers stretched open, under the dough and position the hand under theleft portion (i.e., between the left bulge and middle) of the dough. Lift the dough higher with your left hand and quickly maneuver your right hand, palm up and fingers stretched open, under the right portion (i.e., between the right bulge and middle) of the dough.
• As you hold the dough on your both hands, palms up and fingers open, stretch the dough lengthwise by moving your hands away from one another. Before the gravitational force unduly gravitate and overstretch the middle, unsupported section of the dough, lay the middle down on the middle section of the launching peel (which should be situated to your right side) while your left hand places the left portion of the dough on the front section of the peel. Now, your left-hand palm, still under the dough and fingers open, needs to turn clockwise and face down as it slides toward the front side of the peel and exits from under the left side, which is now the front side, of the dough. (See the picture below.)
• After  your left hand exited toward the front side of the peel, your right hand needs to place the right portion, which is now the back portion, of the dough on the back section of the peel.  Your right-hand palm, still under the dough and fingers open, needs to turn counter-clockwise and face down as it slides toward the back of the peel and exits from under the back side of the dough.
• As the left and right hands make their exits, they stretch, straighten, and symmetrize the dough. The left hand should exist before the right hand, so, if needed, it can assist the right hand with stretching, straightening, and symmetrizing the dough.

Below is a picture of an Iranian baker positioning a finalized dough on a launching peel.

Here is a video demonstrating the process described above:

Notice how relaxed, pliable, and formable the dough balls are in the video. A baker who is in charge of stretching, loading, launching, and baking barbari dough is known as shāter (literally meaning "agile"), which is an honorable title to bear in Iran.

Please, note that if a dough ball resists being stretched and keeps springing back more or less to its initial shape, then it has not ripened and, hence, does not have the required rheological attributes. (A rolling pin ought not to be used to stretch a barbari dough as it toughens the dough, ruins its texture, and takes away its ripeness. As barbari bakers put it, rolling pins “suffocate” barbari dough.) At this point, if the dough does not have the right physical constitution (i.e., being more elastic than extensible), it can stubbornly fight back in being stretched. Many barbari beginners go through this frustrating experience, which can negatively impact the texture and, hence, the flavor of the final product. Sometimes the opposite may occur, that is, when the dough is excessively extensible. Consequently, the dough elasticity and extensibility need to be in the right relation to one another.

After I placed the dough on the wooden peel, technically known as pāru, I launched it on the oven floor to bake.

§8-9. Baking the barbari doughs

After I stretched and positioned the barbari dough balls on the wooden peel, I launched them on the oven floor one after another to bake. (See the next 5 pictures below.)

Below is a picture of the barbari crumbs.

§9. Barbari sauce (roomāl) preparation

Preparation of the barbari sauce is a highly debated issue among committed bakers. Many professionals have developed their own peculiar ways of preparing the sauce, which they often compare to the varnish used in finishing a violin. To them, just as a bad varnish negatively impacts the sound of a fine violin, a bad sauce can likewise ruin a good barbari dough. Therefore, preparation of the sauce should not be taken lightly at all.

The traditional barbari sauce, known as roomāl, literally meaning "top-rub”, is composed of only water and flour (the same flour with which barbari dough is made), which basically entails gelatinizing some flour in boiling water. So, only water and flour, that is all if one desires to strictly adhere to the tradition.

Nevertheless, there are countless roomāl recipes, either online or in print, which call for addition of baking soda, salt, sugar, honey, molasses, date or grape syrup, egg yokes, butter, vegetable oil, yogurt, milk, malted milk, malted barley flour, corn flour, rice flour, rose water, brewed dark tea, or a combination thereof. Actually, some of the aforementioned ingredients are used as the sauce for barbari-like breads produced in certain regions of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey. For instance, yogurt or egg yoke alone serves as the sauce in parts of Turkey. On the other hand, in certain regions of the nations, no sauce is used at all or just pure water.

As far as I know, only in Iran the sauce is normatively prepared with only water and flour. I should point out that some barbari bakeries add extra ingredients (some of which are enumerated in the second paragraph above) primarily for the purpose of cosmetically concealing the defects in their breads, in addition to making them look aesthetically inviting.

Professional barbari bakers strongly advise against using baking soda in making the barbari sauce. Although it can superficially make the top crust look appealing (which expediently comes in handy when the dough is ill-fermented), it can simultaneously have adverse effects on formation of the top crust in addition to vitiating the aroma and taste. Baking soda can make the top crust undesirably dry, brittle, and flaky. My supervising baker once remarked, “The alphabet of barbari bread is only four things: flour, water, fermentative agent, and salt. Adding extra ingredients to the dough and sauce won’t make up for lack of artistry.”

After all said and done, there are innovative, eminent barbari bakers who consider adding small amounts of vegetable oil and sugar (or malt extract or malted barley flour in addition to or instead of sugar) as an “improvement” to the traditional sauce recipe. By “improvement”, I assume, they mean more intense “golden-browning” of the top crust in addition to more “luster”. Further, I assume that, the oil and sugar/malt will intensify the thermo-chemical reactions (i.e., Maillard reaction and caramelization) of the top crust to generate a more intense aroma and taste. Nonetheless, the orthodox barbari bakers insist that, if the traditional roomāl is properly prepared and applied, there is absolutely no need for any improvements. Moreover, they add, improvements to the sauce become imperative when the dough is not properly developed and/or the oven is not properly managed or is unsuitable for baking barbaries.

In production of barbari breads, the sauce plays, to various degrees, consequential roles in: 

• Formation of the top crust,
• Coloration of the top crust,
• Texture and taste of the top crust, and
• How the bread as a whole bakes.

 In making the sauce, it is important to be cognizant of:

• How much flour to use for a given volume of water,
• How to incorporate the flour into the water,
• How much or to what extent the mixture of water and flour should be heated,
• To what extent or consistency the flour should be gelatinized, and
• The correlation between the consistency of the sauce, on one hand, and the quantity of flour, water, and heating time, on the other hand.

To many professional barbari bakers, there are no fixed recipes for the sauce; it is all based on the feel and experience. Notwithstanding, some bakers routinely follow fixed recipes, e.g., 60 grams of flour per liter of water. While we can use fixed quantities of water and flour, we can’t quantity the amount of heat applied to the mixture and the amount of gelatinization that takes place in the mixture during heating. Therefore, experience is needed.

There are many distinct ways of preparing the sauce, using water and flour only. Below are three methods:

• Method 1:

According to the guidelines issued by the Institute of Standards (which is a governmental agency of the Republic of Iran in charge of food safety and quality control) the sauce is made by, first, making a slack dough, using water and flour only. Next, place the dough in a metal pot and add some boiling water. Place the pot on a stove burner, low heat, and continuously stir the mixture until the dough becomes gelatinized in the water. Avoid formation of clumps in the mixture. Once the mixture reaches the proper consistency [such as that of a thin gravy], immediately remove the pot from the heat, and take out any remaining dough clumps. Let the sauce cool down at room temperature before use. The Institute of Standards does not specify how much water and flour to use, which is up to bakers.

Some bakers use this method, but instead of using a freshly prepared dough out of water and flour, they use a piece of leavened barbari dough of the day. I have never tried this, so I do not know what results it may produce. To my thinking, if the leavened dough does not contain adequate amount of residual sugars, then it may not be of much value.

Cautionary Notes: As the sauce cools down, it gradually becomes thicker and stickier. Hence, do not let the consistency of the sauce, before cooling down, trick you into thinking that you have reached the final consistency. The final consistency of the sauce, after it is cooled down, should not be excessively thick and sticky. The sauce should be prepared about an hour prior to baking your breads. However, if you prepare a large volume of the sauce, then it may take more than an hour to fully cool down. It takes some experimentations to get the sauce right. How thick or thin of a layer of sauce is applied on the surface of dough matters. Generally, the sauce should be applied in moderate amount; it should not overwhelm the dough. Using too much sauce will have negative impacts on how the dough bakes. An unreasonably thick layer of sauce negatively affects the formation of the top crust and, to a lesser extent, the crumb below it.

The visual attributes of a baked barbari bread (caused by the sauce and by how the dough is grooved, ribbed, and bulged) are the signature of the bakery that produces it. Perceptive barbari aficionados in Iran can often recognize which bakery in their neighborhood produced which barbari bread—just by looking at it.

• Method 2:

To execute this method (which should provide enough sauce for 12 dough balls, 360-380 grams each) you will need:

• 400 grams of water (100%)
• 20 grams of flour (5%)

The water and flour should be synchronized with room temperature. And, depending on the starch quality of your flour, you may need a little more or less than 20 grams. Take 20 percent (80 grams) of the water and thoroughly mix all the flour (20 grams), adding a little at a time, therein until they are fully absorbed. Bring the remainder of water (320 grams) to the boiling point and lower the heat to simmer. Gradually add the water-flour mixture to the simmering water while thoroughly and continuously mixing with a whisk. Once the mixture acquires the right consistency (translucent and moderately thick and sticky), immediately remove the pot from the heat and let the sauce fully cool down at room temperature. The cautionary notes, above, equally apply here.

A difference between method 1 and method 2 is that, the former requires making a “slack dough” to be gelatinized in boiling water while the latter requires hydrating 20 grams of flour at 400%, which does not form a dough, not even a batter.

• Method 3:

In a metal pot, bring a volume of water to the boiling point and then turn the heat low. Using a flour sifter or sieve, start sprinkling flour a little at a time while continuously stirring the mixture with a whisk. Avoid formation of clumps in the mixture. Continue this process until the mixture reaches the desired consistency (translucent and moderately thick and sticky), at which point immediately remove the pot from the heat and let the sauce fully cool down at room temperature. The cautionary notes, above, equally apply here.

Those who like to be innovative can experiment with ingredients such as: honey, date or grape syrup, sugar, malt extract, malted milk, vegetable oil, butter, milk, yogurt, egg yoke, corn flour, rice flour, or diluted “Dutch crunch”. 

§10. Customary Division of Labor in Iranian Bakeries

Bread production on commercial scale is of vital importance in Iran. Since time immemorial, bread has been a main part of the Iranian diet. In Iran, the four principal types of breads, all of which are flatbreads, are: (1) sangak, (2) barbari, (3) taftan, and (4) lavash. Additionally there are three popular types of sweet flatbread: nān-e ghandi, nān-e shirmal, and nān-e roghani. (The word nān or naan—which simply means “bread” without specifying any particular type of bread in Iran, India, and some other nations—is a Persian word derived from the Old Persian word nagna. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, 5th edition, nagna means, “naked, bare [probably from being baked uncovered in an oven rather than covered in hot ash].”) Consumption of bread reportedly constitutes, on average, 70% of the daily caloric intake in Iran. Accordingly, standing in long bakery lines is part of the daily routines of Iranians. Therefore, to facilitate the daily production of massive number of breads, a customary division of labor has been in place since distant past. Per the customs, the division of labor in barbari bakeries is as follows:

• Khamir-gir (i.e., “dough preparer”, who is sometimes referred to as the “caliph”)
• Chāneh-gir (i.e., “dough-ball preparer”, who is also in charge of finalizing the dough balls)
• Vardast (i.e., “assistant” to the dough preparer and dough-ball preparer)
• Shāter (i.e., “oven-tender”, who is in charge of oven management before and during baking. In addition, she or he is responsible for stretching the finalized dough balls, launching them in the oven, and baking them.)

There used to be an hour-long documentary video, professionally made by a French baker, on barbari and sangak (which is the irrefutable queen of all Iranian breads). The documentary, which was titled "Bread and Civilization" is unfortunately no longer available on Youtube. I hope the video resurface.

Any of your questions that were not addressed above, I will answer in my future posts. Have a great day!

Omid

For preparing the barbari sauce (roomāl), please see section §9 above.

Dear Dsadowsk, you asked, “How are these loaves traditionally eaten?”

Iran is a bread culture, i.e., bread is culturally considered “necessary nourishment”, besides being a sacred symbol. Bread has been of fundamental value in the Persian culinary culture. Hence, Iranians would tell you: if there are no breads on our tables, we still feel unfulfilled after satiating our appetites with other types of foods.

Barbari bread is eaten with all sorts of comestibles: beef, pork, chicken, fish, eggs, vegetables, herbs, butter, cheese, yogurt, rice, cured meats, deli meats, dips, salads, soups, pasta, stews, and many more. Barbari is widely encountered on breakfast, lunch, and dinner tables, particularly in northern Iran.

Barbari finds its most routine and traditional use in what is the most classic Iranian breakfast. The breakfast is known as "noon chaie panir”, meaning, “bread, tea, cheese”. (“Noon” is a non-formal way of writing “naan”, which simply means "bread" without specifying the type.) The breakfast, in its most basic form, consists of: 

• Freshly brewed dark tea (served hot and preferably sweetened with sugar or honey)
• Barbari bread
• Iranian cheese, which is identical to feta cheese (the soft/creamy type is preferable)
• Unsalted butter
• Optional: Jams or honey

Basically, some butter and cheese is stuffed in a piece of barbari, which you eat as you drink some tea over it. By the way, Iranian or feta cheese is the most basic type of cheese that has been produced since ancient times in various regions of West Asia, including Afghanistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey. In Iran, cheese and barbari are considered gastronomic allies.

Barbari is also used in a traditional Iranian appetizer known as “noon panir sabzi”, meaning “bread, cheese, herbs”. The appetizer consists of:

• Barbari bread
• Iranian/Feta cheese
• Mint, green onion, tarragon, basil, radish
• Walnuts
• Optional: Iranian style yogurt (either plain or with shallots)
• Optional: Regular or Persian cucumbers (available at Trader Joe’s, Ralphs, and Iranian supermarkets)
• Optional: Raisons 

Basically, some cheese, herb(s), and walnut is stuffed in a piece of barbari, and I believe you can imagine the rest. Some people would limit this appetizer to only barbari, cheese, and walnuts. You may like to add some icy tequila! By the way, barbari along with Iranian/feta cheese and watermelon/cantaloupe is considered a snack in Iran. Have a great weekend!

Omid

Dear Mirko, you asked, “Could you please explain what you mean sourdough starter (8%)? You just used 176gr starter or sourdough fermented 12-16h?”

I am not sure if I fully understand your questions. So, let me approach them as follows. First, by “sourdough culture” (or “sourdough starter”) I mean a mixture of only water and flour in which two classes of fermentative micro-organisms are cultivated: wild yeasts (not baker’s yeast or Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and beneficial bacteria. On regular basis, I revitalize the culture by discarding a portion thereof, followed by incorporating certain amounts of water and flour to the remaining portion.

When the culture reaches a certain level of activity, I use a percentage of it (based on the weight of the flour) in order to inoculate my barbari dough. So, when I prepared the dough in my initial post above, I took 8% (176 gr.) of my sourdough culture and dissolved it in the water (1518 gr.) in which I had already dissolved the salt (44 gr.). Thereafter, I added the flour (2200 gr.) and began mixing. The resulting dough was fermented for about 10 hours in bulk plus 4 hours in balls at room temperature.

I hope the above satisfied your questions. Good day!

Omid

Dear Derek (Yozzause), here is some information about the torch and the torching procedure I use. I hope they are helpful. My propane torch was purchased for about $50 US dollars at Home Depot. Here is a link:

Lincoln Electric Inferno Propane Torch Kit

It is a powerful torch. Its maximum output is 500,000 BTU. Therefore, one has to be very cautious in using it. Misusing the torch may result in serious bodily injury and/or property damage, including the oven. I must point out that the builder of my oven warned me against using the torch for fear of causing damages to the oven. So, I have been using it very cautiously and attentively. So far, after about 2 years, I have not noticed any visible damages.

Since my oven is of small size (25 inches of internal floor diameter) and thermal mass (about 550 pounds), the torch has been very practical in heating up my oven. I do not know how practical it may prove to be in your oven.

The way I heat up my oven with the torch, for the purpose of baking barbari breads, is as follows. The day before I bake my breads, I preheat my oven by torching the dome—using a fraction of the output of the torch—for about 4 hours or until the inner walls of the oven reach about 800°F.

Then, I shut the chimney hole and put on the two oven doors, positioned before and after the chimney hole. By the way, when I torch my oven, I use an aluminum plate to minimize the opening of the oven door in order to minimize heat loss. The main reason I preheat the oven is to give it a chance to be saturated with the thermal energy as much as possible. As I am sure you know, thermal saturation of takes time. 

Next day, about two hours before I bake my breads, I torch the oven for about 1 or 2 hours (depending on how hot it is) until the floor reaches about 550°F. To procure good bake results, oven management is quite critical. Have a great day!

Omid

Yesterday, I had a bake session, trying to improve my skills in effectively shaping barbari dough into a flat rectangular plane with the grooves and bulges. As with any other bread dough that I know of, if the shaping and handling is poorly executed, then the aesthetics, texture, and taste of the bread will suffer to a lesser or greater degree.

Here are some of the details:

• King Arthur organic all-purpose flour: 2200 gr. (datum point)
• Water: 1540 gr. (70%)
• Salt: 55 gr. (2.5%)
• Sourdough culture: 110 gr. (5%)

• Initial fermentation: About 12 hours at room temperature
• Final fermentation: About 5 hours at room temperature

Here are some interesting pictures of a barbari bakery run by father and son in Tehran, Iran. The pictures, which can silently communicate more than what words can convey, are chronologically ordered.

Preparing barbari breads in non-commercial environments naturally imposes many limitations. So, we home-bakers do what we can to get by.

Round barbaris are not as uncommon as one might think, although majority of Iranians prefer the traditional configuration. Some Iranian bakeries produce both round and quadrilateral barbaris. The same goes with many barbari-like bakeries in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey. I am going to post, below, some pictures of barbari-like breads of the aforementioned countries, starting with Afghanistan. Good day!

Regards,

Omid

The picture of the Afghani baker, below, was shot by a Frenchman in 1969 in Kabul. Priceless! 

The picture below depicts three Hazara bakers in Afghanistan. (As mentioned before, they are known as "barbars" in Iran.) They bear the Mongolian physiognomy on their faces. Magnificent!

The picture below depicts another Hazara baker in Afghanistan.

In Azerbaijan, the task of preparing breads is often delegated to females.

Thank you!

Thank you!