Learning to make bread - month four: maneesh

I will be honest, I had not heard of Maneesh before I came across the recipe in Paul Hollywood's Bread book.  It is, apparently, a classic flatbread from the Middle East.

To be a true Maneesh the dough should really be covered with za'atar, a mix of herbs and sesame seeds.  Not having any sesame seeds in my store cupboards, I improvised and went for a mix of thyme and rosemary.

 My first response when I took the bread from the oven was that my effort at this flatbread recipe was probably my least successful bread-making attempt so far.  A bit like Goldilocks, I ended up with one bread burnt on the bottom, another stuck to the paper, and a third that looked like it was probably just right.

However, I needn't have been quite so pessimistic; none of the three would win any beauty competition, but they taste really very good.  This is probably partly down to the sugar in the recipe and partly down to the thyme and rosemary on top.  The texture is nice and soft.  In all, a bread that is very easy to pick at - and one which can disappear quickly!

 

So not my most successful bread-making attempt, but something I would do again.  Only next time, I think I will add another ingredient to the recipe: patience.  I think my results would have been better had I cooked the three breads in the oven one at a time rather than together.