Greek Flatbread

 Lagana is the name of the greek flatbread which is eaten mostly on the first day of Lent.  It used to be unleaven but most bakers put yeast in it nowadays.  The cost of this loaf is more than twice that of our daily loaf of bread.  Everyone buys it anyway.  It's tradition

I bought two laganas early that morning, one for a friend and one for us.  They were still warm and the smell of the fresh baked lagana was so enticing I went back home and opened up the bowl of taramasalata I made the day before and half of it disappeared in a hastily chewed instant.  Then I started making my own laganas

These are two rustic loaves I made.  They were far better than the fat flatbread covered in sesame sold by the bakers.  I put sesame seed on some and others I leave plain for those that don't like sesame seeds.

The recipe I use is the same as that for pizza or a loaf of ordinary bread

- 500 grams of white flour 

or

300 grams of white and 200 grams of wholemeal

- a mug of warm water

- 1 dessertspoon of dried instant yeast

- a little salt

a small wine glass of olive oil

Mix, leave to rise.

Then make the flatbread, flattening out the dough onto a large tray, forming into an oval shape.  Push your fingers in to make lots of little bumpy holes.  Brush with more oil, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake about 20 minutes.

The dough should not rise very much.  We do not cut the bread but break off pieces and share it around while it is still warm.  K will still eat it the next day but its too hard and dry for me.

When I first came to Greece almost 50 years ago no-one ate olive oil on Clean Monday and there was no yeast in the lagana.  I prefer today's cuisine.  It has changed a lot over the last 20 years.

On Clean Moday, the first day of Lent and a huge holiday, my father inlaw made taramasalata, fish roe dip, with salty fish roe, soaked bread and lemon juice.    Nowadays it is much smoother with lots of olive oil added.  On the table back then would be lettuce leaves and spring onions no dressing or new fangled sauces, bbqued octopus, the fish roe dip, spiny sea urchins which he would have collected early that morning and maybe some shellfish, cockles or limpets, given to him by fishermen friends and neighbours. They were eaten raw with a squeeze of lemon juice.  He always reminded us that Lent meant a simple diet and moderation.  Not something we continue these days with a  table laden with various bean salads, fried kalamari, mussels in wine, grilled vegetables in exotic balsamic vinegar and sweets dripping in oil and honey.  Dessert back then was an apple which he would peel and hand around.

I have found a really nice recipe for lagana which uses tahini and ouzo or wine.  I'll make it in a day or two and post that recipe too.