Sangak is an oblong Iranian flat bread made to be about 2 feet (60 cm) long.
About 45% of the flour used in Iran goes into making Sangak. It is made from wheat flour – 3 parts whole wheat to 1 part white flour.
The dough is a mild sourdough. A portion of dough saved from the previous day is used to leaven the current day’s dough. It is allowed to ferment for 1 1/2 hours, then rolled, shaped, sprinkled with sesame seeds and baked for around 5 minutes on top of small pebbles in an oven.
When done, the pebbles are shaken off, leaving indents on the bottom where the dough rested on them. Sometimes in the Middle East, you might still find tiny stones stuck to the bottom of the bread.
Sangak Bread is best hot or warm and has a short shelf life needing to be bought each day.
For weddings and New Years Sangak Bread is often served decorated.
Language Notes
“Sang” means stone.