Lahmacun
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lahmacun or Lahmajoun (IPA: [lahmaˈdʒun]) (Arabic لحم بعجين lahm bi-`ajĩn, "meat with dough") known as Turkish pizza and Armenian pizza, is an Anatolian and Middle Eastern dish usually made up of a round, thin piece of dough topped with minced meat (most commonly beef and lamb). Lahmacun is often sprinkled with lemon juice, and then served rolled up with pickles or other vegetables, including tomatoes, peppers, and onions.
Lahmacun is most prominently made and sold in Turkey and Armenia. It can also be found in cities with sizeable Armenian and Turkish communities including Beirut, Berlin, Boston, Detroit, London, Los Angeles, South Paterson, Montreal, Moscow, Skopje, Germany, and the Netherlands. In addition, Armenian and Syrian-Lebanese immigrants introduced the dish to Brazil, where it has become a popular fast-food item throughout the country, known by the name of esfiha.
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[edit] Recipe / Ingredients
For 4 servings
- Flour
- 75g lamb meat
- Four thinly chopped onions
- One tomato
- One tablespoon of paprika sauce
- Ten leaves of parsley
- Salt, pepper, capsicum[1] [2]
[edit] Preparation
Raw minced meat (should be minced by knife instead of machine to get a better texture), extremely thin chopped onion, chopped tomato, paprika sauce, chopped parsley, butter, salt, pepper and capsicum are mixed. Salt, pepper and capsicum are added as the cooker wishes.
Risen bread dough is divided into hickory-nut sized pieces. They are processed using an oklava, a tool to make dough thinner. Flour is recommended to be used along with the oklava. After the dough is thin enough, the previously mentioned mixture (salt, pepper, and capsicum) is distributed over the dough. It should be cooked in a stone oven for a richer taste.
[edit] Trivia
- In 2002 a Turkish television series called Lahmacun ve pizza (literally Lahmacun and Pizza) was made.
- In Turkey and Armenia there are many restaurants that cater solely to lahmacun - these are called lahmacun salonu in Turkey and lahmacuanots in Armenia.
- Habib's, Brazil second largest fast-food chain after McDonald's, specializes in lahmajoun.
- Similarly in Montreal, there is an Armenian restaurant chain called Arouch that specializes in lahmadjoun. [3]
- In many German restaurants that sell kebab, lahmacun is usually filled with vegetables like lettuce, red cabbage, onions and others and topped off with kebab meat and a sauce (usually spicy on a tomato base or mild on a yoghurt base). It is then rolled into a tube to be eaten right away.
