A large, paper-thin unleavened flatbread of flour, water and salt, traditionally rolled and stretched paper-thin over a special cushion and slapped onto the searing inner wall of a tonir clay pit oven, where it bakes and blisters in under a minute. Eaten fresh and pliable to wrap grilled meats, herbs and cheese, or dried for storage and revived with a sprinkle of water. It serves not only as bread but as plate, scoop and utensil.
A thin flatbread of West Asia and the South Caucasus and the foundation of the Armenian table; its baking is a communal task shared by groups of women, and at weddings lavash is draped on the couple's shoulders for fertility and good fortune. In 2014, "Lavash, the preparation, meaning and appearance of traditional bread as an expression of culture in Armenia" was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Fresh lavash is soft, supple and faintly chewy, with blistered, lightly toasted spots that taste of clean wheat and woodsmoke. It is a near-neutral, tender wrapper that lets fillings shine, tearing easily and folding without cracking.
Rolling the dough ultra-thin and baking at extreme heat for seconds flash-cooks it, setting the structure before moisture fully escapes so it stays pliable. Resting the dough relaxes the gluten so it can be stretched without tearing.
Variations
Leavened or unleavened, baked in a tonir or on a saj, dried for storage and rehydrated, used to wrap khorovats or cheese and herbs
On the Palate
Where Lavash Armenian sits in the Armenian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
8 steps · 30 min
- 112 min
Knead a stiff dough from flour, water and salt until smooth and elastic.
- 260 min
Cover and let the dough rest and relax for at least one hour.
Watch outGive the dough a full rest so the gluten relaxes — skip it and it springs back and tears the moment you try to stretch it thin.
- 315 min
Divide into balls and let them rest again briefly.
- 48 min
Roll each ball out as thin as possible into a large oval or rectangle.
Watch outRoll it until you can almost see your hand through it; any thick patch stays gummy while the thin edges scorch.
- 55 min
Optionally stretch the sheet further over the backs of the hands until translucent.
- 61 min
Bake against the wall of a very hot tonir, or on a preheated saj/cast-iron pan, for under a minute.
Watch outIt bakes in under a minute — watch for bubbles to blister and brown, that's the whole window.
- 71 min
Pull off as soon as bubbles brown, before it dries out, for soft fresh lavash.
Watch outPeel it off the instant the bubbles brown, while it's still soft; leave it a breath too long and it dries stiff and cracks.
- 85 min
Stack and cover to keep pliable, or dry fully for long storage.
