Taboon bread

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Village oven, taboon, in Palestine. Photo taken 1900 to 1920 by American Colony, Jerusalem

Taboon bread with Shawarma

Taboon bread (Arabic: خبز طابون) (Also called lafa or laffah) is a type of flatbread common in the Middle East. It is baked in a taboon, an outdoor oven made of mud-brick and clay heated with wood and manure. The fuel is ignited under a metal plate, on which are placed smooth river bed rocks which when heated cook the bread. it has a round form, with a diameter of about 30 cm.

The lafa, similarly to the pita, serves as a wrapper to the different foods inserted into it, such as hummus, falafel or shawarma. Unlike the pita, the lafa is not formed with a pocket. The food is tossed on it and then the lafa is rolled up as its wrapper. A dish which is customary to wrap with the Lafa and not with the pita is labneh.

Several types of taboon bread are popular in Israel:

Iraqi Pita is a 30-cm circle of medium thickness, slightly chewy, doesn't tear easily, and is mostly used to wrap shawarma in food stands.
Druze Pita is made mostly by Druze women. About 25-cm diameter, very thin, almost transparent. There are several typical fillings for Druze pitas: Labneh, with or without zaatar, hummus, and especially popular with children is a chocolate spread filling, making it a regional variation of a crêpe.
Buchari Pita, an oval, thin and crispy flatbread, spiked with cumin seeds. Usually eaten as a snack by Buchara Jews, along with savory food.