What is the name of this Israeli street food?

Question

When I was in Israel a few years back I tried this really great street food. I had gotten the recipe, but now have lost it and don't remember what it was called. It is a cross between a pancake and a bread. The one I had had za'atar, thin sliced tomatoes, and red onion fried into one side and was flipped over. Does anyone know what this is called?

No it had no potatoes in it. It was pan fried if that helps anyone. — anton2g, Nov 30 '11 at 20:13
It wasn't pita bread. It was about the size of it, but had a more similar consistency to a hard pancake — anton2g, Nov 30 '11 at 20:43

score 9 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 17 '19 at 21:31

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I was able to track down the dish. It is called Lahuhe. There is a picture of it here. Thank you to everyone for trying to help me out.

edited Jun 17 '19 at 21:31

wjandrea

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answered Dec 13 '11 at 16:38

anton2g

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score 4 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 09 '17 at 17:30

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From your description, it might have been a Malawach. enter image description here

If it is, here is a link to a recipie.

edited Mar 09 '17 at 17:30

Community

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answered Dec 01 '11 at 14:21

Barry Hammer

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This is close, but the recipe is not right. There was nothing to dip it in or to spread on it. It just had the "toppings" embeded in the food. – anton2g Dec 01 '11 at 16:18
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What you had could have been simply a street-vendor variation on the base recipe (toppings baked into bread are easier to eat than those simply perched on top). Perhaps you should try making this recipe -- with your toppings baked in -- to see if it tastes right to you. – Bruce Goldstein Dec 01 '11 at 18:30
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Hmmm... it's possible that it was something invented by that particular street-vendor. – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner Dec 02 '11 at 05:30

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 28 '15 at 22:06

I'm guessing this dish might have derived from manaqeesh (manouche) which are extremely popular all over the Levantine region, although it's spread all over now. In Melbourne, Australia, for example, there are dozens of Lebanese places that sell them.

Za'tar is the most popular flavour but there are many others such as sujuk, za'tar with tomato+onion, za'tar with veggies (capsicum, tomato, onion, olives, etc), cheese, kiskh, labne, minced lamb, spinach, etc.

score 1 · Answer 4 · edited Mar 09 '17 at 17:30

It's probably just flatbread. If you are in an African (West and South) influenced area, it will be unleavened, just flour and water. In the more Middle East (North and East) areas it will probably have yeast as well (or local beer)

The dough is normally left to stand for some time before being rolled and cooked

They are rolled or teased out to large circles (50cm+), and then traditionally cooked over a convex curved pan (sag?). Imagine a upside down wok, made of thick steel

Image from wikimedia commons

On the Middle East side it is brushed with olive oil and herbs like Za'atar, or salt and chilli

If mixed and cooked quickly without leavening this is suitable for Passover, and is referred to as Matzo, but without the baked in toppings

The recipe did not call for it to stand to rise. – anton2g Dec 01 '11 at 15:55 — anton2g, Dec 01 '11 at 15:55

What is the name of this Israeli street food?

4 Answers4