Fatta

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Fatta (Arabic: فتة‎) (meaning "crumbs", in Arabic)[1] is an Arab dish that uses pieces of stale, toasted or fresh flatbread as a foundation upon which various ingredients are added overtop. It emerged as a way of making use of stale bread, as flatbreads tend to get stiff when exposed to air rather quickly. Fattit, the plural form, refers to the entire class of Syro-Palestinian dishes that use crumbled flatbreads in their preparation.[2]

Fatta dishes include a wide variety of regional and local variations, some of which also have their own distinct names. Fatta can be made with eggplant or chickpeas (in Arabic, hummus). Fattat maqadim al-ghanem is a special dish made with lamb shanks, chickpeas, spices and yogurt spread over the bread.[2] Fatta gazzawiah from Gaza, is served as plain rice cooked in meat or chicken broth and then flavored with mild spices, particularly cinnamon. The rice is laid over a thin, markook bread known as farasheeh then is smothered in ghee and topped with various meats.[3]

Fattoush is a salad made with toasted pieces of pita bread that falls into the family of fatta dishes, and musakhan, the national dish of Palestine is also considered a fatta dish. A bread soup dish called fattat is popularly consumed by workers for breakfast in Syria.[2]

Egyptians prepare and consume a dish called fatta as a feast meal.[2] Considered a traditional Nubian dish, it is prepared on special occasions, such as to celebrate a woman's first pregnancy. It is made with meat with soup and bread served with rice and molokhia in a bowl.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Patai, 1998, p. 98.
  2. ^ a b c d Wright, 2003, p. 117.
  3. ^ The Foods of Gaza Laila el-Haddad. This Week in Palestine. June 2006.
  4. ^ Jennings, 1995, p. 90.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Jennings, Anne M. (1995), The Nubians of West Aswan: Village Women in the Midst of Change, Lynne Rienner Publishers, ISBN 1555875920 
  • Patai, Raphael (1998), Arab Folktales from Palestine and Israel, Wayne State University Press, ISBN 0814327109 
  • Wright, Clifford A. (2003), Little Foods of the Mediterranean: 500 Fabulous Recipes for Antipasti, Tapas, Harvard Common Press, ISBN 1558322272