The simple yet extraordinary staple
by Iain Ilich
All photos by Curtis Comeau Photography
Writing about pita is a surprisingly difficult task for one simple reason: there is no one type of pita bread and everyone has an opinion.
“Not even from country to country, but from town to town within country to country, it differs,” explains Wajih Araji, general manager at Al Salam, a popular southside Edmonton restaurant and pita bakery. They serve a wide range of clients who hail from a wide range of backgrounds—Lebanese, Palestinian, Egyptian—all with their own views on pita. For many, it’s not just an occasional treat, but a daily staple. If some cultures fawn over perfect baguettes made with the perfect starter, others are just as devoted to the simple yet extraordinary pita.
The most common type features a hollow interior space that can be easily pulled apart and stuffed. Then there is the pocketless Greek style, which, as the name suggests, lacks the pocket. It is generally puffier and is perfect for folding around souvlaki or cutting up for dipping. And that’s not even counting the huge number of similar flatbreads that could easily be counted as a type of pita.
Strictly speaking, pita is a flatbread. Like many breads, it’s generally made with yeast, water, flour, salt and sugar. What makes pita special is the technique. It’s rolled out fairly thin, then cooked quickly at a relatively high temperature, either in a pan or in an oven. This burst of heat causes the water in the dough to turn to steam, making it puff up impressively as it cooks from both inside and out, resulting in the typical hollow inside pocket structure that can be used for filling. Depending on how they’re made, they can be small and puffy or flat and easier to use for wraps.
“The most popular one would be the traditional Lebanese pita bread,” says Araji of his own shop’s offerings. “It comes in three different sizes: 10-inch, three-and-a-half and seven-and-a-half inch. It comes in white and whole wheat. Not only do we sell it retail to our customers, we also supply to donair shops and a lot of grocery markets. Anyone that uses pita in their dish, per se, they usually get a hold of us and we supply them here in Edmonton.”
A little old world, a lot of new
When you walk through the doors at Al Salam, don’t be fooled by the pita operation in the front, where they make and bake pita by hand. In the back, behind the scenes, there’s a full commercial bakery facility to meet the sizeable demand for fresh pita in the Edmonton area.
“On an average day, when it’s not too busy and not too slow, we’ll probably make 2,000 pieces of pita,” says Araji. “It’s a lot of pita bread.”
“The pita that you’ll see on the shelf, that one is probably 70 to 80 per cent automated,” he explains.
Their crew of about seven people comes in at 5:00am to make the dough by hand. After that, the process becomes more mechanical, and sounds just a little bit like Willy Wonka’s factory. The machinery cuts the dough into portions, flattens each piece, places it on a conveyer and sends it off through a very hot oven that is filled with flames.
“We don’t turn on the heater during winter. We just light up the bakery and that gets it burning in here,” Araji laughs. “That oven is at 800 degrees, so it’s piping hot. The pita goes through for something like five or seven seconds. And after that, it’s on another 40-foot conveyer that takes it all around the space that we make it in, just to cool it down.”
From there, they manually count and pack the pitas while they’re still warm. “If you come and buy pita fresh in the mornings, if you come before 9:30am you’ll still see the steam in the bag,” he says.
The freshest pita you’ll ever have
For those who want a taste of pure pita heaven, right out of the oven, you can buy fresh pita on the spot at Al Salam, baked to order. The pieces of flattened, stretched dough go into a stone pizza oven that’s hot enough to singe your eyebrows off (there are stories). About 40 seconds is all it takes to get the job done. As soon as they’re done, they’re yanked from the oven, placed briefly onto racks then into the bag, ready to be taken home.
While they make fresh pita at the front of the shop all day, it’s still subject to availability.
“We operate a restaurant as well as the bakery, and that baked to order bread we use for the restaurant side,” he explains. “Sometimes we’ll get an order for 100 plates out of nowhere, which requires 100 pieces of bread. But 95 per cent of the time, it’s available. But the five per cent of the time it isn’t we get really scolded for it, so we always try to keep it available. People from the north side come into the south just to buy it. People from Leduc. People from Wetaskiwin come. People can drive all the way from Red Deer, sometimes without calling, just to pick it up, so we always try to keep it as available as possible.”
During times like these, when money is tight and comfort food is helping us all get through, it’s nice to know that the little luxuries don’t have to break
the bank.
“It’s super affordable,” says Araji. “$3.50 for five pieces baked fresh in front of your eyes. For the other one, we sell it for $2.25 for six pieces. Destroys grocery market prices. And we’re local.”
Great things to do with pita
Sometimes you buy a fresh bag of pita with one thing in mind, but you wind up with extra. Or maybe you love pita and just need a good excuse to pick some up and use it. Here are some easy ideas.
Wraps
Flour tortillas are great and tend to keep for longer than pita, but have you ever made a wrap with a pita still warm from the oven? Some shells can be pulled apart and filled, then wrapped. Flimsier shells or those that have torn are better to just fill and roll like a donair. They’re also fantastic for packing in a school lunch. You’re on notice, sandwiches.
Homemade Falafel
The best way to eat falafel is in a pita wrap. Make falafel at home from scratch and customize it to your liking. If you don’t have a ton of time, you can use a pre-mixed ingredient pack that you hydrate and cook, or you can buy pre-made falafel balls in the vegetarian aisle of your favourite supermarket.
Freeze Them
While pitas are meant to be eaten fresh, preferably within three days of being made, you can pop any extras in the freezer and they’ll hold up well for a month or two.
Pita Pizzas
An excellent option for pitas that are maybe a few days old. Let your kids grate the cheese, spread some sauce on, add some toppings, then top with the cheese and bake. It’s a fun way to experiment with different pizza toppings without having to commit to using dough from scratch.
Bread Crumbs
Pop it in a blender, give it a whirl and you’re good to go.
Pita Chips
When all else fails, you can turn those extra unused pita shells into pita chips. Season as you like or keep them plain. Just pay attention if you’re baking them in the oven, as they can go from perfect to burned in no time.
Kitchen Experiments?
“You can wrap a Twix bar in pita bread and deep fry it,” Araji says, noting they tried this the other day. “It’s a little too sweet for me, but some people prefer stuff like that.”