Bread of the Caucasus peoples - lavash: caloric value and usefulness of this product
In the kitchen of the peoples of the Caucasus, the greatest fame andpopularity has gained lavash. It is a thinly rolled flat cake made from a batterless test. Cakes are baked in special large clay ovens, called tints. For the Slavs, such bread is somewhat unusual, because we are used to eating yeast dough. But there are several qualities on which, compared to our bread, lavash wins: calorie content is low, and in addition, lavash preserves its freshness for a long time. Unlike bread, lavash should not be stored in a bag - there it can only mold. It is stored in a dry place, and before serving, it is enough to sprinkle a dry cake with water and slightly heat in the oven, as lavash will be as freshly baked.
There is a huge variety of lavashi -Similar cakes are also found among the peoples of Central Asia and the Middle East. The most popular type of Asian bread is Armenian pita bread. Caloric content is very low, so it is recommended to eat people who want to lose weight. The fact is that the dough made of durum wheat, from which lavash flour is made, gives a feeling of satiety with its low caloric content. Armenians even call envelopes from freshly baked lavash "deception of a child." Since the process of kneading dough and baking lavash is quite laborious, the hostess on such a day usually did not have time to prepare another meal, so the baby was given an envelope of freshly baked lavash with some stuffing.
And here we see another plus of lavash: it can be served not only as bread, to main courses, but it can itself enter into the main dishes. Thin, rather strong and flexible cakes are great for wrapping any stuffing in them: greens and vegetables, meat, cut into pieces, like shawarma, cheese, hard grated cheese, sausage and even porridge. If you still have some products in small quantities, safely wrap them in pita bread - the calorie content of the dish does not increase very much. Very delicious pita bread with meat filling, when it is served to transparent broth.
Lavashi are sold in our supermarkets and inmarkets. But when buying lavash, you should pay attention to the ingredients. The matter is that some manufacturers of bakery products go "on a rolled track" and bake flat cakes using the Slavic method - from a yeast dough. But after all, low caloric value of lavash is achieved by the fact that the dough for it is prepared without yeast: from durum wheat with the addition of vegetable oil. Lavash is baked in a heavily heated special oven on metal sheets for only a few minutes: it's enough for thinly rolled flat cakes to be baked. If yeast is included in the pita bread test, cakes will not be stored for long - they become stale or moldy. In principle, it will not be lavash: its caloric content will increase sharply due to the content of yeast rods. And the taste of the flat cake is lost.
Classic lavash is prepared with the addition ofrefined olive oil. They smeared the sheets, which baked cakes. If you lubricate forms for baking margarine or other vegetable or animal fat, carcinogenic substances are formed in the oven, at a high baking temperature (namely, so it is necessary to bake lavash). This, of course, can not but affect the qualities with which lavash is so famous: its caloric content increases, and the taste is deteriorating. Also, the shelf life of Caucasian bread in fresh form is also decreasing. After hardening, it can not be "revived" by sprinkling water and warming in the oven.
This lavash, cooked according to the classicprescription, can be used in dietary nutrition: acute forms of liver disease, gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, myocardial infarction, stroke, diabetes mellitus. Lavash is rich in vitamins, microelements, carbohydrates.
