taboon bread

{{short description|Staple bread eaten in Middle-Eastern countries}}

{{Infobox food

| name = Taboon bread

| image = lch (20).JPEG

| image_size = 200px

| caption = Taboon bread, main component of musakhan

| alternate_name =

| country = Middle East

| region =

| creator =

| course =

| type = Flatbread wrap

| served =

| main_ingredient =

| variations =

| calories =

| other =

}}

Taboon bread ({{langx|ar|خبز طابون|khubz ṭābūn}}) is Levantine flatbread baked in a taboon or tannur {{gloss|tandoor}} clay oven, similar to the various tandoor breads found in many parts of Asia. It is used as a base or wrap in many cuisines, and eaten with different accompaniments.{{cite web |url=http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2002/02/falafel-ambassador-of-peace-or-cuisine-from-mideast |title=Falafel: Ambassador of peace or cuisine from mideast? |date=February 28, 2002 |last=Skloot |first=Joe |newspaper=The Daily Princetonian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090819231855/http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2002/02/28/4515/ |archive-date=2009-08-19 |url-status=unfit |access-date=2018-12-06}}

Variations

File:Tabun - 2.jpg]]

Taboon bread is an important part of Palestinian cuisine,{{cite book | last=Albala | first=K. | title=Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia | publisher=Greenwood | issue=v. 2 | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-313-37626-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NTo6c_PJWRgC | access-date=2019-10-03| pages = 28–29}}{{cite book|first1=William Meynell|last1=Whittemore|title=Sunshine, conducted by W.M. Whittemore [and others].|url=https://archive.org/details/sunshineforforh00whitgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/sunshineforforh00whitgoog/page/n14 6]|date=1874|via=Internet Archive}}{{cite book | last=Albala | first=K. | title=At the Table: Food and Family around the World: Food and Family around the World | publisher=ABC-CLIO | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-61069-738-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-o28CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA171 | access-date=2019-10-03 | page=171}} traditionally baked on a bed of small hot stones in the taboon oven.{{cite web|access-date=2019-02-03|title=e-turathuna-Tabun - Bethlehem University|url=https://www.bethlehem.edu/3-ic/ic-lib/turathuna/topics/e-turathuna-tabun|website=www.bethlehem.edu|archive-date=2019-02-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203201726/https://www.bethlehem.edu/3-ic/ic-lib/turathuna/topics/e-turathuna-tabun|url-status=dead}} The hot stones give the bread an uneven texture and prevent the formation of bubbles in the bread due to the expanding water vapor, which facilitates adding toppings to it, but also prevents the formation of an inner hollow pocket like pita.{{cite web |last1=Kassis |first1=Reem |title=Taboon (Palestinian Flatbread) |url=https://www.seriouseats.com/taboon-recipe-5219608 |website=Serious Eats |access-date=26 March 2025 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Tamimi |first1=Sami |last2=Wrigley |first2=Tara |title=Falastin A Cookbook |isbn=9780399581748 |language=en |chapter=8.1,7.1}} It is the base of musakhan, often considered the national dish of Palestine. Gustaf Dalman, a German orientalist, documented its making in Palestine in the early 20th-century, among other types of breads.{{cite book |author-last=Dalman|author-first=Gustaf |author-link=Gustaf Dalman |title=Arbeit und Sitte in Palästina|volume=4 (Bread, oil and wine)|location=Hildesheim |pages=114–115 |year=1964 |language=de |oclc=312676221}} (reprinted from 1935 edition) In Palestine, folded flat-bread was often filled with a spinach and onion mixture, or with cheese curds and onion mixture, or with raisins and pine nuts. The ordinary taboon-bread was slightly smaller in size than the ordinary tannur-bread.{{cite book |author-last=Dalman|author-first=Gustaf |author-link=Gustaf Dalman |title=Arbeit und Sitte in Palästina|volume=4 (Bread, oil and wine)|location=Hildesheim |year=1964 |language=de |oclc=312676221}} (reprinted from 1935 edition), Diagram 30 Over the centuries, bread-making in communal taboons played an important social role for women in Palestinian villages.