Batbout

What it is

Batbout is a pita-like bread cooked in an iron pan.¹ Morocco World News describes it as a soft, chewy bread that makes a good sandwich and gives the names mkhamer, toghrift and matlou.²

History

According to Yabiladi, an early form appears in the cookbook “Fadalat al-khiwan” by the Murcia-born scholar Ibn Razin al-Tujibi, from the 13th century: a “bread baked on an iron pan”, made of semolina, salt and a fermented mixture and shaped into loaves; as variations it mentions baking in an oven or directly in the embers.³

What it is made of

Today the dough is mostly kneaded from white flour and wholemeal flour with a little sugar and olive oil; some still use semolina, sometimes mixed with flour.⁴

How it is cooked

When

Batbout maammar, small batbout served cold and mostly stuffed with tuna, sweet corn, lettuce, pickles and sometimes potatoes, is according to Yabiladi now hard to imagine an iftar without; it spread through forums, YouTube and cooking groups and is now also sold in bakeries.⁵ In Khenifra, batbout is one of the usual dishes during Ramadan.⁶

In the Doukkala a large plate of batbout with butter and smen used to be part of breaking the fast, beside harira and coffee cooked with herbs and spices.⁷ In the 1960s batbout was the daily main dish of suhoor there: the dough was started after the evening meal, baked shortly before dawn and spread with butter and honey.⁸