Lavash — or lavosh — is an unleavened flat bread that is a staple of many Middle Eastern cuisines. It can be thick, thin, soft or crisp, depending on technique and intended use.
Commercially made American versions are usually very thin and snappy, sometimes flavored with nuts or fruit, and eaten as a cracker with dips and spreads.
Leburta Kanno wrote in aid of a friend’s quest for a softer version. “I have a friend who used to make a wonderful lavosh,” Kanno wrote. “She no longer has the recipe, but remembers that it had a ‘chew’ to it — a little thicker than most lavosh. She thinks she might have gotten the recipe from a home ec class at McKinley High School back in the 1980s. I know that’s not much to go on, but she swears it is the best lavosh, and would love to find the recipe again.”
Turns out that was plenty to go on, although when I printed Kanno’s request a few weeks ago, I was not hopeful. Many thanks to Jane Kotani, who found what has to be the right recipe in her collection and mailed in a handwritten copy. “My two daughters attended McKinley High School in the ’80s and made this lavosh in class,” Kotani wrote.
Lavash traditionally has no leavener, such as baking soda, or eggs, but this recipe has both, undoubtedly contributing to the “chew.” You can control the relative crunchiness by adjusting the thickness as you roll it out. I rolled mine out to less than 1/8-inch thickness, but it baked up to about 1/4-inch. One batch was like a cracker in texture; the other, baked a shorter time, was chewier.
A suggestion: Since you roll the dough in four separate pieces, bake the first one as a test. Let it cool and break off a piece to taste. If you want a crunchier or chewier end result, roll out the rest of the dough accordingly, and adjust baking time.
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McKinley High School Lavash
>> 3-1/4 cups flour
>> 1/2 cup sugar
>> 1/2 teaspoon salt
>> 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
>> 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
>> 1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine
>> 1 egg, slightly beaten
>> 2/3 cup milk
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. Add sesame seeds. Cut in margarine until mixture is crumbly.
Combine egg and milk; add to flour mixture. Divide dough into 4 parts.
Roll 1 part out very thin on floured surface (form a rough rectangle at least 10 inches across). Loosen immediately and place on ungreased cookie sheet (dough can be rolled around the rolling pin and lifted, as you would a pie crust). Bake about 30 minutes, until golden brown and firm. Transfer to rack to cool (it will get crisper as it cools).
Repeat with remaining 3 parts of dough.
Nutritional information unavailable.
Note: You could sprinkle rolled out dough with more sesame seeds, then roll again to press seeds in. Transfer to cookie sheet. This was not part of the McKinley recipe, but is an option that makes the lavash look nicer.
Do you have a clue?
This recipe search went so well that I’m pulling out more requests from my Hope Springs Eternal file. If you have any of these recipes, or an idea who might, get in touch at the address listed below. I’ll send you a cookbook from our collection of review copies as a thank-you.
>> Jan Burns is hoping to re-create the lemon crunch pie recipe served at the old Yum Yum Tree restaurant.
>> E. Osato, Kathleen Saito and many previous requesters crave the curry once served at Jon’s at Ala Moana Center. If not curry, how about the stew or hamburgers?
>> Jean Siarot would love to find the recipe for a pudding made by Mrs. Moriwaki, a third-grade teacher at Pohukaina School in 1949. She made the pudding two or three times that school year, Siarot said. “I remember that it was so delicious and have always thought about it all these past years.”
