Lavash
Lavash is a thin, soft flatbread traditional to Armenia and neighboring regions. It is baked in a clay oven and often used to wrap food.
Tandoor: A cylindrical clay oven used to bake breads and cook other foods against or near its hot walls. Lavash is traditionally baked by adhering the dough to the hot inner wall of a clay oven.
Armenian cuisine: The culinary traditions and dishes associated with Armenia and Armenian communities. Lavash is a defining bread in Armenian foodways.
Wrap (food): A dish made by enclosing fillings in a flexible flatbread. Lavash bends around fillings without needing the thicker structure of a pocket bread.
UNESCO listing of lavash: UNESCO’s 2014 inscription of lavash preparation and cultural traditions in Armenia on its intangible heritage list. The inscription formalized lavash’s place in Armenian living heritage.
Flatbread: Bread made as a flat, usually unleavened or lightly leavened sheet of dough. Lavash belongs to the broad family of breads shaped and baked flat.
Armenia: A country in the South Caucasus, bordered by Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Iran. Armenia is central to lavash’s traditional identity and documented cultural heritage.
Dürüm: A Turkish wrap made by rolling fillings in thin flatbread, commonly dürüm bread or lavash. Dürüm is a familiar preparation that uses lavash as its enclosing bread.
Armenian wedding traditions: Customs and rituals associated with marriage in Armenian communities. In some Armenian wedding traditions, lavash is placed on the newlyweds’ shoulders as a wish for abundance.
Wheat flour: A powder produced by milling wheat kernels, used as a staple ingredient in many breads. Wheat flour supplies the dough’s structure and starch.
South Caucasus: A region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Lavash is shared across food traditions in this wider region.