Accepted Manuscript

Ethnic and traditional Iranian breads: different types, historical and cultural aspects

Vahid Mohammadpour Karizaki

PII: S2352-6181(16)30142-1
DOI: 10.1016/j.jef.2017.01.002
Reference: JEF 96

To appear in: Journal of Ethnic Foods

Received Date: 21 December 2016

Revised Date: 14 January 2017
Accepted Date: 20 January 2017

Please cite this article as: Karizaki VM, Ethnic and traditional Iranian breads: different types, historical
and cultural aspects, Journal of Ethnic Foods (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.jef.2017.01.002.

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Ethnic and traditional Iranian breads: different types, historical and cultural aspects
Vahid Mohammadpour Karizaki1
Chemical Engineering Department, Quchan University of Advanced Technology, Quchan, Iran

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Abstract
Background: Bread making has a long history in Iran. Because of the inseparable relationship between Iranian
people and bread, an increasingly wide variety of this healthy and nutritious food is prepared and consumed

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throughout the country. The present work aims at documenting and providing the information about breads of the
Iranian cuisine.
Methods: The required information was obtained by a direct face to face questionnaire-based survey among
housewives, domestic people, and Iranian bakers. The statistical society was selected by a random sampling among

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people from top 8 most populous cities in the country.
Results: More than 30 types of the ethnic and traditional bread of Iranian cuisine are introduced in two main
categories: the first group includes breads that are consumed all around the country, and the second group consists of
those that are prepared in special regions, or by ethnic groups.

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Conclusion: The historical and cultural aspects of the Iranian foods showed that the bread is the most common and
popular food in the country.
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Keywords
Bread; Ethnic food; Iran
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1
v.mohammadpour@qiet.ac.ir, mohammadpour_vahid@yahoo.com
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Ethnic and traditional Iranian breads: different types, historical and cultural aspects

Abstract
Background: Bread making has a long history in Iran. Because of the inseparable relationship between Iranian
people and bread, an increasingly wide variety of this healthy and nutritious food is prepared and consumed
throughout the country. The present work aims at documenting and providing the information about breads of the
Iranian cuisine.

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Methods: The required information was obtained by a direct face to face questionnaire-based survey among
housewives, domestic people, and Iranian bakers. The statistical society was selected by a random sampling among
people from top 8 most populous cities in the country.
Results: More than 30 types of the ethnic and traditional bread of Iranian cuisine are introduced in two main

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categories: the first group includes breads that are consumed all around the country, and the second group consists of
those that are prepared in special regions, or by ethnic groups.
Conclusion: The historical and cultural aspects of the Iranian foods showed that the bread is the most common and
popular food in the country.

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Keywords
Bread; Ethnic food; Iran

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1. Introduction
Wheat is the most important and essential staple food crop in the world [1, 2]. Due to its good taste, low price, and
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high nutritional value, it is a food for more than 35% of the people around the world [1, 3, 4]. The production of
wheat by the top 50 countries were 548 million metric tons (MMT) in 2003, while the production has been increased
to 696 MMT in 2013. China is the largest producer of wheat in the world with production more than 120 MMT. The
other principal wheat producers are India, United States of America, Russian Federation, France, Canada, Germany,
and the Pakistan. Iran is also a big producer of wheat in the Asia with production more than 9 MMT [5].
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Bread is the most important wheat-based foodstuff that is produced throughout the world [6]. It is also the most
popular product that is consumed in Iran [7]. The first bread was prepared over 12000 years in the past [8]. Findings
show that the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Babylonians consumed bread many decades B.C [9]. Bread is known
to be of global importance in nutrition, providing an important source of vitamins, dietary fibers, proteins,
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antioxidants, and micronutrients [10]. It is produced by cooking fermented dough, basically made from wheat flours,
yeast, and water [11, 12].
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Several additives may be added to the wheat flour-yeast-water dough in order to increase shelf life of bread and
improve its palatability, quality, sensory perception, retainability, or even nutritional value [9, 11]. The most
commonly used additives are vegetables (such as potato, onion, spinach), fruits and nuts (such as raisins, walnuts,
peanut), seeds (such as poppy, cumin, sesame), salt, sugars, lipids, milk, egg, spices, and food starches [11]. In
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recent decades, many researchers have worked on addition of different ingredients to wheat flour-yeast-water dough
[13-20]. Erica et al investigated the using of sourdough starters for bread-making from eight Iranian wheat flours
[7]. Michel and Myriam (2015) added chia seeds to the formulation of wheat bread. They reduced the intake of
saturated fatty acids in the new formulation. Lukasz et al (2017) added flaxseed hulls to wheat flour dough. They
found that flaxseed hull is a beneficial food additive.
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Also, many studies have addressed the incorporation of non-wheat flours in bread-making process [22-27]. For
example, thirty percent of wheat flour was replaced with sweet potato flour in bread-making process. Cardenas et al
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showed that there is no difference in protein quality or sensory properties of the wheat-sweet potato bread [28].
Olapade and oluwole (2013) prepared bread with composite flour of wheat-Ach that was enriched with 0-15%
cowpea flour. The potential of bread-making with composite flour of wheat-chia was investigated by Michele and
Myriam (2015).
Traditional and ethnic Iranian breads are famous for their taste, quality, and varieties [29]. There are two main
reasons why Iranian national cuisine has a wide variety of breads: (i) bread is considered as the first food of the
Iranian people and it's consumption in the daily diet is very common, and (ii) Iran as an integrated country
accommodates various ethnic groups. The ethnic and racial diversity significantly includes fars, tork, kord, torkman,
arab, balooch, gilak, lor, and tabari. The remainder consists of minor groups, mainly comprising armenians,
assyrians, and georgians. In addition to countless kinds of bread that are prepared throughout the country, there are
also numerous types of bread that are produced by these ethnic groups. Sangak, barbari, taftoon, and lavash are the
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most popular breads in Iran [7, 29]. The Iranian breads are prepared in different composition, shape, size, texture,
color, and flavor.
Recently, there has been increased attention to the issue of the traditional and ethnic foods [30-37]. The main causes
of using these foods have been mentioned in [2, 38, 39]. To the best of the author's knowledge, few reports have
been published about the ethnic and traditional Iranian breads in literature. The present work aimed at introducing
and documenting the most popular of the ethnic and traditional Iranian bread prepared in Iran.

2. Materials and methods

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A random sample of people from top 8 most populous cities in the country was selected. Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan,
Karaj, Tabriz, Shiraz, Ahvaz, and Qom have the largest population in Iran, respectively. These cities have a
combined population of about 20 million people, almost 25 percent of the total population.
A direct face to face questionnaire-based survey was conducted among housewives, domestic people, and bakers for

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finding the required information. Also, data gathering process was completed by searching online databases,
reviewing scientific publications and literature as well as by looking for in historical documents. All the pictures
presented in this study were taken after buying breads from the bakeries of the cities mentioned above.

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3. Results and discussion
3.1. Historical Background
The Persian word for bread is Nan. The Sasanian inscriptions of the 3th century have mentioned this word. Also,
analyzing historical documents show that the word "Nan" is mentioned in the Pahlavi texts of the 9th century. A

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definition of Sangak –one of the most popular Iranian breads– found in the comprehensive Persian encyclopedia
"Borhan-e-Ghate" in 1651. One of the oldest bakeries of Tehran is located in Luti Saleh. It is name of an old passage
in Tehran that is founded in the 19th century during the Qajar period.
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3.2. Bread Types
There are numerous types of breads in the Iranian national cuisine. Due to wide varieties of products and different
favorites of people, several categorizations of bread types may be used throughout the country. Iranian breads may
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be categorized in different ways as below:

i) by the type of flour: wheat-based, barley-based, rice-based, and etc.; ii) by size and volume: flat, raised, and semi-
raised; iii) by method of cooking: hot stone-baked, tandoori, oven-baked, steam-baked, and etc.; iv) by the type of
ingredients added to wheat flour-water-yeast dough: sesame bread, potato bread, and etc.; v) by texture: doughy,
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soft, crispy, brittle, and dry; vi) by whether or not the bread contains sugar: sweet, and non-sweet. Also, the Iranian
breads can be classified into two major types according to the geographical distribution (observed spread range) and
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popularity of breads throughout the country.

The first group include those breads that are commonly produced and used in all urban and rural areas. Sangak,
barbari, taftun, and lavash are the most favorite. In the other words, the breads of this group are the most popular
and may be baked in each district of the country. More than 20 types of breads can be found in the first group. The
second group consists of breads that are prepared and consumed in a special zone, or by an ethnic group. For
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example, lako is the name of a popular bread that is baked in some parts along the Caspian sea coast. Lako is usually
unfamiliar for people of central and south provinces. Another example is the favorite bread of kurdish people, called
shelkine. Particularly, there are over 40 types of ethnic and traditional breads that are prepared in Hormozgan
province at the south of the country. The countless numbers of breads can be considered in this group.
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Table 1 introduces twenty types of traditional and ethnic breads prepared and consumed all around the Iran. It shows
the Persian name, geometric shape, and the price range of each bread. Additionally, some information about the type
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of bread, main ingredients of dough, and hardness of texture are presented according to different categorization
mentioned above. The most important and popular breads of the first group are discussed below.

3.2.1. Sangak
Sangak, a thin and flat bread, is one of the most common and popular breads in Iran. It is considered as one of the
national breads of the Iranian cuisine. Historical documents show this bread was probably invented by the scholar
and chief architect Shaykh Bahai during the safavid dynasty. What is unique about the sangak bread is the way of
baking in a traditional oven. Sangak in Persian means "pebble" or "small stone". This bread is baked on a bed of hot
pebbles in an oven. At least two bakers are required to prepare sangak. The dough is flattened on a slightly convex
slab and quickly is thrusted into the oven by first person. The another baker removes sangak with a double-prong
fork or skewer after a few minutes. Fig. 1 shows the two types of sangak bread.
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3.2.2. Barbari
Barbars were an ethnic group indigenous to northeastern Iran that borders Afghanistan. Barbari implies of or related
to barbars. Dehkhoda dictionary of Persian language has mentioned a type of bread that was baked by barbars
group called barbari. The barbars brought this bread to Tehran during the Qajar period. Baker rests the flattened
dough on a table for preparation the baking process. Sprinkling the seeds such as sesame over the dough is very
common before baking. Finally, the dough is carefully inserted with a long wooden paddle into heated oven. Some
types of barbari bread are shown in Fig. 2.

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3.2.3. Taftun
Taftun, or Taftoon, a Persian word that is derived from "Tafan", meaning "heating", "burning ", or "kindling".
Analyzing the literary documents and the Iranian national epics such as Shahname show that the word "Taftan" has
being used from several centuries ago. In the past, the only way of taftun making was the baking of bread dough in a

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tandoor or clay oven. However, the baking of taftun in rotary oven or baking machine has been common in the
recent years. Sometimes, taftun is made with a little salt or without it. Salt-free bread is a proper food for those
people who suffer from Hypertension. One type of taftun bread is shown in Fig. 3.

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3.2.4. Lavash
Lavash is a soft and thin flat bread that prepared in a clay oven, rotary oven, baking machine, or tandoor. It is one of
the most widespread type of bread in Iran. The origin of lavash is most probably from Iran, according to the state of
the encyclopedia of Jewish food. There is a tremendous variety in flavor and texture of this bread in the Iranian

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cuisine. Some types of lavash are so thin that they will be dried quickly and a brittle and hard texture will be
achieved. Also, lavash can be varied in size from about 30 cm in length to over 0.5 m, and in shape from circular to
oblong or square. Fig. 4 shows some types of lavash bread.
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Furthermore, another common types of breads consumed all around the country are shown in Fig. 5.

As mentioned earlier, there are numerous types of bread that are considered in the second group. Detailed studies are
required to identify more precisely how many and which types of breads can be included in this group. Table 2
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presents a list of 12 traditional and ethnic breads that are limited to special provinces of the country. It gives the
Persian name, the main characteristic and the major ingredients of each bread, as well as identifies the geographical
areas in which the special types of breads are baked. Also, Fig. 6 introduces the common breads of top 8 most
populous ethnics groups in the country. The breads presented in this figure are not common throughout the Iran, and
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their popularities are limited to the mentioned ethnic groups. Furthermore, these breads as gift play an important role
in the economy of the ethnic societies.
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3.3. The social and cultural aspects of the Iranian breads

The bread subsidy was being paid by the government to all bakeries before 2010. Iran was one of the cheapest
places to buy bread in the world. There were two main disadvantages in low price production of breads that include
the following: baking the low-quality products, and the profusion of bread types. Furthermore, standing on long
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lines for buying breads was very common, because of the low number of bakeries in each area.
The Iranian parliament passed the subsidy reform plan in 2010. Replacing subsidy on bread with targeted social
assistance was one of the goals of the subsidy reform plan, in accordance with a movement towards free bread prices
in a 5-year period. The number of bakeries, working hours of each bakery and the price of different types of bread
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were increased quickly as a result of this plan. Also, an increasingly quality-competitive bread market was formed
all around the country. Although the consumption of high-priced bread was an unpleasant experience for the people,
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there have been several advantages of the subsidy reform plan related to bread production including: a) easier and
quicker availability; b) higher quality; and c) more variety and diversity. Bread is still one of the cheapest foods can
be bought in Iran.
Among Iranians, bread is known as "Barakat" meaning God's blessing. They treat bread carefully and cautiously,
due to holy place of bread in their culture. Although many Iranian foods such as chelow mahiche and tahchin can be
served without bread, a loaf of bread is brought to the table. Almost all of the famous poets and literary men of Iran
have mentioned bread in their great books. Table 3 shows several points of view in Persian literature about bread
from the well-known poets both modern and classics. Now, these points are an inseparable part of the Iranian
culture.
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4. Discussion
Bread has a long history in Iran. A wide variety of this wheat-based product is available in the Iranian cuisine. More
than 30 types of the most popular traditional breads consumed in Iran were introduced and documented in this work.
Also, the social and cultural aspects of the Iranian breads were considered. Further studies on healthy, medicinal,
and nutritional properties, and the baking methods of the Iranian breads are required.

Acknowledgment
This work is supported by the Quchan University of Advanced Technology.

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Conflicts of interest
The author has no conflicts of interest.

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Fig. 1. Two types of sangak bread. (a) Without sesame. (b) With sesame. This type is more expensive (about 30-
50% more) than the bread without sesame. The more number of people are interested in sangak with sesame in
comparison with the other type. Sometimes, both sides of sangak are sprinkled with sesame.
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Fig. 2. Some types of barbari bread. The fresh barbari can be used with all types of foods. The staling process
results in a very hard and dry texture, and the bread can only be used with watery and soupy foods. (a) Soft, without
sesame. (b) Crispy, with sesame. (c) Crispy, without sesame.
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Fig. 3. One type of taftun bread. Before the baking process, the baker makes dimples all over the dough with
fingertips or a metal jagged blade. Piercing the dough results in production of a homogenous bread. Also, the
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excessive puffing will be prevented.
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Fig. 4. Some types of lavash bread. Due to low thickness of different types of lavash, this bread is not proper for
using in watery and soupy foods. (a) Soft. (b) Crispy. (c) Very thin and crispy. This type of lavash will be dried
quickly. The shelf life of dried bread is several weeks. If lavash is put into plastic bags, not only the bread will not
be dried, but also a pasty and very soft texture will be achieved.
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Fig. 5. Some types of common breads. (a) Nan-jow. It is a barley-based bread. Although barley is cheaper than
wheat in Iran, barley bread is more expensive than wheat bread due to low production of barley breads in the
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bakeries. (b) Nan-sabzijat. The required vegetables for preparation of this bread often including parsley, dill, and
tarragon. (c) Nan-sandvichi. It is similar to baguette bead. (d) Nan-sibzamini. This bread alone can be used as a full
meal. (e) Shah-abbasi. This bread is proper for those people that are interested in very soft and pasty breads. (f)
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Shirmal. This bread alone or accompanying with butter or milk can be used as a full meal.
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Fig. 6. The common breads of the ethnic groups. (A) Bishmeh bread. It is prepared by torkman groups that live in
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north of Iran. (B) Aghoz bread. Due to using sesame and walnut, aghoz is nutritious. It is bread of tabari groups. (C)
Lako bread. It is a rice-based bread that is baked by gilak group in some parts along the Caspian sea coast. (D)
Tandir chureh bread. It is baked by turk groups in northwestern Iran. (E) Kalaneh bread. It is bread of kurdish
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people. Kalaneh is a delicious and appetizing bread. (F) Chezenak regho bread. It is baked by Lor groups. Guests are
given freshly baked chezenak regho as a sign of hospitality. (G) Siah bread. Siah is a rice-based bread that is baked
by arab groups in west of Iran. (H) Halekary bread. This bread is prepared by balooch group in east of Iran.
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Table 1
The most popular and common breads consumed throughout the Iran.
No. Persian Geometric shape Bread type Price ($ per Main ingredients Texture Image
name loaf of bread) type
1 Barbari pseudo-ellipse non-sweet, semi- 0.1-0.3 wheat flour, water, salt, crispy, Fig. 2
raised leaven, sesame soft
2 Lavash rectangle, non-sweet, flat 0.05-0.15 wheat flour, water, salt, soft, Fig. 4
pseudo-ellipse leaven crispy

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3 Nan-brenji circle sweet, semi-raised 1.5-2.7  rice flour, egg yolk, soft -
cardamom, sugar
4 Nan-esfenaj circle non-sweet, semi- 0.4-0.5 wheat flour, water, salt, soft, -
raised spinach doughy

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5 Nan-fantezi pseudo-ellipse non-sweet, raised 0.25-0.5 wheat flour, water, salt, crispy -
leaven
6 Nan-ghagh circle sweet, flat 1.0-1.3  wheat flour, sugar, water, crispy, -
(ghandi) leaven, sesame, oil brittle

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7 Nan- circle non-sweet, raised 0.07-0.15 wheat flour, water, salt, doughy -
hamberger baking powder
8 Nan-jow circle, rectangle non-sweet, semi- 0.4-0.65 barley flour, water, salt, stiff, dry Fig. 5
raised leaven (a)

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9 Nan-khoshk circle, rectangle non-sweet, flat 0.1-0.15 wheat flour, water, salt, dry, brittle -
leaven
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10 Nan-mashini rectangle, non-sweet, flat 0.07-0.13 wheat flour, water, salt, soft -
pseudo-ellipse leaven
11 Nan-sabzijat circle non-sweet, semi- 0.4-0.5 wheat flour, water, salt, soft, Fig. 5
raised leaven, dill, parsley, doughy (b)
tarragon
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12 Nan- pseudo-ellipse non-sweet, raised 0.07-0.25 wheat flour, water, salt, soft, Fig. 5
sandvichi leaven doughy (c)
13 Nan- circle non-sweet, semi- 0.4-0.5 wheat flour, water, salt, soft, Fig. 5
sibzamini raised leaven, potato doughy (d)
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14 Nan-sokhari rectangle, square sweet, semi-raised 1.1-1.5  wheat flour, water, salt, dry, brittle -
sugar, leaven, vanilla, oil
TE

15 Nan-tost rectangle, square non-sweet, semi- 1.2-1.7  wheat flour, water, salt, soft -
raised leaven, oil
16 Sangak pseudo-triangle non-sweet, semi- 0.17-0.4 wheat flour, water, salt, crispy Fig. 1
raised sour paste, sesame
17 shah-abbasi circle non-sweet, raised 0.13-0.26 wheat flour, water, salt, doughy Fig. 5
EP

leaven (e)
18 Shirmal circle sweet, semi-raised 0.18-0.5 wheat flour, water, sugar, doughy Fig. 5
vanilla, baking powder (f)
19 Taftun circle non-sweet, flat 0.13-0.26 wheat flour, water, salt, crispy Fig. 3
C

leaven
20 Tanuri circle, rectangle non-sweet, flat 0.13-0.26 wheat flour, water, salt, crispy -
AC

leaven
 Per Kg of bread.
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Table 2
The most common breads prepared in special region or by an ethnic group.
No. Persian Province Major ingredients Main property/characteristic
name
1 Chepotin Semnan wheat flour, water, salt Having long shelf life
2 Kukeh East wheat flour, oil, salt, milk, turmeric, egg Nourishing
Azerbaijan yolk
3 Hashjin Ardabil wheat flour, sugar, salt, oil, walnut, Nourishing

PT
cinnamon
4 Khitab West wheat flour, oil, salt, turmeric, onion, Nourishing
Azerbaijan spinach
5 Shelkineh Kordestan wheat flour, oil, sugar, milk, turmeric, One of the popular souvenir

RI
egg yolk, saffron of this province
6 Tiry Kohgiluyeh wheat flour, water, salt, oil Having long shelf life
and Boyer-
Ahmad

SC
7 Fatir Khorasan wheat flour, water, sugar, salt, oil, Having long shelf life
(east, west, walnut, cinnamon, sesame
central),
Markazi

U
8 Komaj Hamedan wheat flour, water, oil, walnut, egg, Appetizing
sugar, butter, cinnamon
AN
9 Borsagh Lorestan, wheat flour, oil, sugar, milk, turmeric, Having simple recipe
Kermanshah cumin
10 Agardak Ghazvin, wheat flour, oil, egg yolk, milk, baking Having simple recipe
Zanjan, powder
Hamedan
M

11 Balatovah Fars wheat flour, water, egg, turmeric, sesame Nourishing

12 Tamushi Hormozgan wheat flour, water, oil Appetizing
D

Table 3
Bread in Persian literature.
TE

No. Poet's Name Book Birth-Death Date The mentioned point

1 Ferdowsi Tusi Shahnameh c. 940–1020 If the breadwinner is a strange person, the family
will be disintegrated.
2 Khwaja Resale-ye 1006-1088 Don't withhold bread from the people.
EP

Abdullah Ansari Varedat

3 Mawlānā Rumi Dīwān-e Shams 1207–1273 God provides us our daily bread.
4 Saadi Shirazi Gulistan c. 1210–1291 The satisfied person doesn't seek bread from
others.
C

5 Ebne Yamin - 1286–1368 Life satisfaction is possible by satisfying own

bread.
6 Saib Tabrizi Dīwān-e Saib 1601-1677 The satisfied person wets the dried bread in own
AC

blood.
7 Iraj Mirza Dīwān-e Iraj 1874-1926 Although the Sangak bread isn't cotton candy, it is
Mirza crisp and tastes pretty good.
8 Sohrab Sepehri Hasht Ketab 1928-1980 The happiness is possible by satisfying own bread.