Kaak

I'm sure you're like "What the heck is 'kaak'?" Kaak is a type of Lebanese bread, and I've been thinking about it almost non-stop for the past few days. My cousin is coming from Lebanon this week, and he asked what he could bring for us. My sister and I both responded "kaak!"

Kaak is sold on the street off of carts that have bars running across them to hold up the bread. I'm not sure if this is to keep the air circulating or if it's to showcase this delicous bread. After all, this bread does include handy cutouts that make it very easy to hang off a bar!

The bread itself is quite sweet, and the sesame seeds sprinkled on top give an extra touch of sweetness. When it's baked, the larger portion of the bread puffs out, and it makes a little pocket to stuff for a sandwich. If you plan on eating the bread right off the cart, the vendor will sprinkle a little sumac into the pocket, which is a tangy and tart spice that balances very well with the sweetness of the bread. He sprinkles in the sumac, you shake it up so that it infiltrates the bread, and start eating.

If you take the bread home, it's great with halloumi, which is a tangy and salty cheese (we call it "squeaky cheese" since it squeaks a bit when you bite into it) or with labne, the cheese yogurt that is the quintessential breakfast spread in Lebanon.

When family brings kaak from Lebanon, they bring it frozen and wrapped in multiple plastic bags to try to keep the freshness in. Anything I don't eat immediately gets put in the freezer to savor some other time. A warm-up in the microwave gets it back to it's normal texture and taste.

The photos above are from this site, where I also found a recipe for kaak. I've been thinking about this bread and trying to find a good chunk of time to focus on making it - it's the type of recipe where you have to let the bread sit for hours, punch it down, let it sit some more...so I'm waiting for an open weekend. I want to see how close I can get to the real Lebanese thing in my very American oven. And then, how cool would it be to offer Lebanese street food in my little bakery?