Iraqi Flatbread

This leavened bread is as ancient as the Sumerian civilization itself, and the way it is prepared and baked now has undergone little change. As they say in the United States, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. Up until recently, bread was leavened with a piece of dough, called shunga, which worked as a starter. It was usually kept in a covered container to be used for the following day’s baking by incorporating it into the new batch.

The components of the bread are quite basi