Bread

Croatia

Pa&scaron;ki ba&scaron;kotin is a Croatian sweet rusk produced by Benedictine nuns in the St. Margarita monastery on the island of Pag. They have been producing it for more than 300 years. The nuns got their first oven in 1540, and they have used it since then to bake various cakes, pastries, and ba&scaron;kotin. The recipe for ba&scaron;kotin is kept a secret. Nowadays, the nuns bake about 30 kilograms of ba&scaron;kotin daily, and they can&rsquo;t make any more because the whole process is done by hand. Traditionally, ba&scaron;kotin was offered to guests with chicory coffee on the side because regular coffee was expensive and hard to come by. Ba&scaron;kotin was also often served with pro&scaron;ek, as it was believed that dunking it in pro&scaron;ek before consumption was beneficial for pregnant women.

Paški baškotin

Pav in India refers to a type of soft, fluffy bread roll that is commonly used in various street foods and meals. The term "pav" comes from the Portuguese word "p&atilde;o," which means bread. Pav was introduced to India during Portuguese colonization, particularly in Goa and Mumbai, and has since become a staple in Indian cuisine. Pav is soft, pillowy, and slightly chewy, with a light crust and a subtle sweetness, making it versatile for pairing with both savory and spicy dishes. Pav is traditionally made with a dough of refined flour (maida), water, yeast, sugar, salt, and a little butter or oil. The dough is kneaded, allowed to rise, shaped into rolls, and baked until soft and golden brown. It is typically small in size and comes in sets, perfect for individual servings. Pav is a key component of popular Indian dishes like vada pav, a spicy potato fritter sandwiched in pav, pav bhaji, where pav is served with a spicy, buttery vegetable mash, misal pav, which pairs pav with a spicy lentil curry, and keema pav, where pav accompanies spiced minced meat curry.

Greek paximadi is a twice-baked rusk that is traditionally made with barley, but modern-day versions may employ various flour types and significantly vary in form and size. Paximadi comes in both savory and sweet versions that are often flavored with citrus zest, anise, or chocolate. It can be enjoyed as a snack or an accompaniment to various dishes, and before serving it is often soaked in water, white wine, or olive oil. Though paximadi is eaten throughout the country, Kritiko paximadi is especially praised for its quality and can only be produced and made on Crete. It is prepared with varying amounts of barley flour and is typically slightly darker in color and round in shape. Kritiko has been a staple Cretan ingredient and is mainly used in the preparation of salads and appetizers.

Paximadi

Peda is a traditional type of bread originating from Armenia. The bread is usually made with a combination of white flour, olive oil, yeast, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, and sesame seeds. In order to prepare it, sugar and yeast are added into a warm mixture of water and milk. Once the yeast starts to work, flour, salt, and olive oil are mixed in, and the dough is kneaded until smooth. When it doubles in size, pieces of dough are shaped into balls that are left to rise a bit more before they&rsquo;re placed on oiled baking sheets, flattened, and a hole is made in each ring. The smaller balls are placed into the holes and flattened. The bread is brushed with whisked egg yolks, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and baked in the oven until it&rsquo;s nicely golden and browned.

Peda Bread

United States

Pepperoni roll is a specialty of West Virginia consisting of a baked white bread roll filled with pepperoni sticks or slices. The roll is sold throughout the state at numerous gas stations, diners, and convenience stores, often paired with marinara sauce for dipping. It is believed that pepperoni roll was invented in 1927 by Giuseppe Argiro at the Country Club Bakery in Fairmont, who originally created it as a portable food item for Fairmont's miners.

Pepperoni Roll

Prepared with a base of mashed potatoes and various types of flour, this traditional, unleavened Finnish flatbread is characterized by its round shape and a golden, crispy crust. Best served fresh from the oven, it is usually enjoyed as a light snack or breakfast, complemented with various spreads, butter, or smoked salmon.

Perunarieska

India

Pesara dosa (also called pesara attu or mung bean dosa) is India's national dish and one of the most popular breakfast foods in Andhra and Rajasthan. Dosa is the world's thinnest griddlecake, a paper-thin pancake made with an earthy batter that is left to ferment and rise for eight to ten hours. It has a bubbly texture and a unique, complex, toasted, and buttery flavor. Pesara dosa is made with ground mung bean and batter, resulting in a unique flatbread that is healthy and quick to prepare. Additionally, ginger, cumin seeds, onions, and green chiles may be added to enhance the flavors. Served either hot or cold, pesara dosa is usually accompanied with upma and a side dish of various chutneys, such as ginger, tamarind, or coconut chutney.

Pesara dosa

Pakistan

Peshwari or Peshawari naan is a traditional flatbread originating from Peshawar, Pakistan. The flatbread is characterized by its filling, consisting of almonds, desiccated coconut, and sultanas or raisins. The dough for this type of naan is made with yeast, water, flour, sugar, oil, and salt, while the filling is ground into a paste, often with the addition of butter and a bit of water. Once cooked, puffed up, and fluffy, this naan is typically brushed with melted butter or ghee, and it's then enjoyed warm alongside curries, especially the spicy ones.

Peshwari naan

Phaphatha is a circular, flattened dumpling from Botswana, consisting of flour and yeast. It is cooked without water, often in a frying pan. Due to its large size, the bread is usually used as an accompaniment to big meals, although it can be consumed for breakfast or as a snack.

Phaphatha

Coming from the northern Pakistani territory of Gilgit-Baltistan, phitti is a traditional bread made primarily with whole-wheat flour, sourdough, and water. The dough is typically rolled out into a thick round loaf that is then baked into a nicely colored bread with a crispy crust on the outside and a soft interior. Traditionally, the bread is baked in a cast-iron skillet which is embedded in hot coals and ashes in a hearth, but nowadays, it is often oven-baked. Phitti can also be optionally enriched with milk, eggs, oil, or butter for added flavor and a more filling dish. This Pakistani bread is typically consumed for breakfast along with rock-salted milk tea. In the Hunza valley, the Hunzakut people often rip off small pieces of phitti, drop them in their cup of tea, and then enjoy the bread pieces drenched in the strong salted tea.

Phitti

Phulka is a traditional flatbread that&rsquo;s very similar to a chapati. Although both flatbreads are made from wheat flour, there are some key differences. Phulka is smaller in size and diameter than a chapati. Regarding the cooking method, phulka is first cooked on a tawa on one side, while the other side is placed over direct heat such as embers, resulting in its puffed up, ballooney appearance because of the trapped steam between the layers of dough. Consequently, phulka is served immediately, as it is, otherwise it will lose its puffed up shape, while chapati is often brushed with ghee or butter after it&rsquo;s been cooked. This puffy flatbread is usually served with different curries.

Phulka

Italy

Piadina fritta, also called pi&egrave; fretta, sometimes even pizza fritta, is a thin, golden-brown fried bread prepared alongside Santerno Valley in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. A very simple dough made with water, flour, salt, lard or olive oil, and yeast is first left to rise, and it is then shaped into thin round discs and deep-fried in oil. It can be enjoyed in both sweet or savory versions. The sweet piadina fritta can be served dusted with sugar, but it is often topped with jams or chocolate cream, while the savory version is usually lightly sprinkled with salt and enjoyed on its own or paired with different cold cuts and cheese. Since 1957, every year on Easter Monday, the Festival of Pi&egrave; Fritta is held in Fontanelice - it is a great opportunity to try all the possible varieties of this simple, yet extremely versatile and delicious dish.

Piadina fritta

Even though today this griddled Italian flatbread is typically enjoyed as a sandwich (one of the most popular fillings includes prosciutto, creamy soft cheeses like squacquerone, tomatoes, and a handful of peppery wild arugula), Piada or piadina Romagnola was once merely a staple of the poor, often made with maize flour and called la pjida ad furmantoun in Romagnolan dialect. In his poem entitled La Piada, which is sort of an ode to the beloved Romagnolan piadina, a 19th century Italian poet Giovanni Pascoli calls it "the bread of poverty, humanity, and freedom", describing it as "smooth as a leaf and as big as the moon." Since then, the humble, rustic piadina has come a long way and even today takes a special place in the regional cuisine, having been awarded the Protected Geographical Indication status. Le piadine, in plural, can take virtually any ingredients as their filling, and they can be easily found freshly prepared at numerous street kiosks called piadinerie, as it is best to eat a piadina only minutes after it comes off the cast-iron griddle while it's still pliable and warm - the perfect frame for the almost-melting soft cheese and delectable, thinly sliced charcuterie.

Piadina Romagnola

Piki bread is a traditional unleavened bread originating from Arizona's Hopi tribe. The bread is made with blue corn and it has numerous papery thin layers. It's cooked on heated piki stones which have been seasoned with either cooked sheep's brains or bone marrow. These stones are so prized that they're handed down through generations. Piki bread is traditionally made from ground blue corn, water, and juniper ashes, and its flavor is best described as smoky, earthy, and slightly sweet. The preparation is time-consuming, so the bread is reserved for special occasions such as weddings, when the bride and groom eat piki together.

Piki Bread

Pinagong is a traditional bread roll originating from Sariaya (Quezon province) in the Philippines. This dense bread roll is usually made with a combination of flour, salt, yeast, sugar, and milk. Eggs and butter are sometimes also added to the dough mixture. It is believed that pinagong is a version of pan de monja, but it's distinctive for its shape and a complex scoring pattern on top before baking. The name of the bread roll is derived from the word pagong, meaning turtle, because once baked, it looks similar to a turtle. The roll is also soft in the inside and slightly crunchy on the outside.

Pinagong

China

Pineapple buns are golden, crispy-crusted, sweet pastries originating from Hong Kong. Despite their name, they don't contain pineapple, but are named after the chequerboard pattern of the crust that visually resembles the skin of a pineapple. An important part of Hong Kong's cultural heritage, they are made with only four ingredients - flour, lard, sugar, and eggs. Crispy and sugary on the exterior and soft on the inside, it is a favorite food of many locals due to its inexpensive price. The buns are usually eaten for breakfast or in the afternoon with tea. One popular variation known as boh loh yaau is commonly consumed with milk tea and served with butter inside the bun. It is known as one of the unhealthiest snacks in the country due to high amounts of cholesterol and fat. As the buns spread all over the world and became more popular, several other varieties were created, stuffed with coconut, pork, cream, or red bean paste.

Pineapple bun

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Pita bread is a type of flatbread believed to have originated in the Middle East around 2500 BCE, making it one of the oldest types of bread in the world. Archaeologists have found evidence of flatbreads made by ancient civilizations across the Middle East and Mediterranean, including the Egyptians and Sumerians. The term "pita" is a Greek word, which means "pie" or "bread". This might suggest that the Greeks adopted this form of bread from their Middle Eastern neighbors. The bread is a staple in many Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines today, including those of Greece, T&uuml;rkiye, Lebanon, and Syria. The simple process of making pita bread, which involves mixing wheat flour, water, yeast, and salt, then baking it at high temperatures, would have been achievable with the tools and resources available to ancient civilizations. The high heat causes the dough to puff up and create a pocket, which is a distinctive feature of pita bread. This pocket makes pita bread versatile for a variety of dishes, as it can be used to scoop up or hold various fillings. Pita is the perfect choice for steaks, lamb, falafel, kebabs, or chicken, and it is traditionally paired with hummus, tzatziki sauce, or tabouleh.
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Pita bread

Pitica is a yeast-raised, spongy flatbread that's popular all over the Balkans and similar to pide or pitta. It's usually made with a combination of flour, water, salt, and yeast. Once the dough has been prepared, it's baked in the oven at high temperatures. The flatbread is mostly used as a vessel for ćevapi &ndash; small minced meat sausages that have a cult following in the Balkans. When compared to its cousins, somun and lepinja, pitica is slightly thicker than both. In Bosnia, pitica is especially popular in Travnik and Vakuf.

Pitica

Pitilla is a type of bread from the Salento area, similar to the traditional focaccia. The dough, which is baked in stone ovens, is made with durum wheat flour, yeast, water, and salt, sometimes with the addition of olives or raisins. The crust is crispy, while the interior is very compact and firm. Pitilla is best served hot, straight from the oven, with fillings ranging from fresh tomatoes, oil, and salt to slices of mortadella or other local cold cuts.

Pitilla

Pitta pizzulata is a traditional dish originating from Calabria. This cross between a pizza and a focaccia is made with a combination of flour, lard, eggs, dry white wine, tomatoes, pecorino cheese, red chili pepper, and salt. Once prepared, the dough is flattened and topped with the chopped red chili pepper, peeled tomatoes, salt, and small pieces of lard. Pitta pizzulata is then baked in the oven until golden, and it's always served hot.