Israeli Unleavened Bread~ The Flatbread of the Bible

I’m back from a 2 year hiatus from blogging on my little kitchen blog. My reintroduction to blogging began on July 26, 2022, my 53 birthday, with the reopening of my spiritual blog The Wholistic Hiker. (Originally My Walk in the Woods) Here is a quote the article I posted that day.

I’ve been really down lately and away from my blogs for a long time, since the beginning of the Covid pandemic. I realized I was so much happier when I was blogging. I actually have 3 blogs, including this one. I have marked my other 2 private, as I am not yet ready to relaunch those. I’m not sure when or if I will ever do that. I’ll blog here for a while and see how it goes.
Tamara Hoerner, The Wholistic Hiker

As you can see, I decided to relaunch this site, after reigniting my love of blogging through The Wholistic Hiker. This kitchen blog will be dedicated to vintage recipes, whole food recipes and traditional cooking techniques, which are the 3 things I love to do most in the kitchen. Now, onto today’s post.

I recently shared this recipe for Authentic Israeli Unleavened Bread on The Wholistic Hiker, due to its similarity to Bannock. I decided it was a perfect fit for traditional techniques. After all, what could be more traditional than a bible based recipe.

The recipe is from a wonderful website called The Biblical Nutritionist. This is the website for Annette Reeder, a Christian nutritionist, international speaker, and have been a biblical health coach for over 20 years. She has several nutrition and diet courses based on biblical studies.

Ann Reeder~ Biblical Nutritionist

The recipe on her website for Israeli Unleavened Bread grabbed my attention because it reminded me so much of “Bannock“. If you’re not familiar with bannock, it is a type of bread that goes back to pioneer times. It is believed that Scottish fur traders introduced bannock to Native Americans in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Many of the native cultures around North America have a version of bannock or unleavened bread as well. Flour tortillas would fall into this category. There are also flatbread recipes around the world some with leavening some without, including Roti, naan, chapati, pita, Aish Baladi (Egypt), and Himbasha (Ethiopian)..just to name a few. Many of these recipes are remarkably similar, nearly identical, to Israeli Unleavened Bread.

Why “Unleavened” Bread?

Bannock and Israeli Unleavened Bread are almost identical, only differing by one ingredient: a leavening agent such as baking powder.

The use of unleavened bread in Israeli and Christian tradition is mentioned in the Bible in the Book of Exodus.

Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters.Exodus 13:7

It is seen as a symbol of the Israelites “haste when they escaped from slavery in Egypt.” According to tradition, God commanded the Israelites to celebrate the event with a feast of unleavened bread.

This is why God commanded the Israelites to commemorate this event by celebrating the feast of unleavened bread. By eating this kind of bread, they will always remember the victory that God has given them to enter the promised land.
The Biblical Nutritionist

Comparing Israeli Unleavened Bread to other flat breads

Roti

This Roti recipe is from The Curious Chickpea. The ingredients are identical to Israeli bread, differing slightly in amounts:

2 – 2 1/2 (250-300g) atta flour (Wholemeal flour)
1 tsp (6g) salt
2 tbsp (26g) oil
1 cup (235g) room temperature water

Mexican Tortillas

This recipe is my favorite for homemade tortillas. You’ll find the entire recipe on Mexico in my Kitchen.

2 ½ cups All Purpose Flour plus extra to form tortillas.
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
⅓ Cup shortening or Lard
1 cup hot water

Bannock

This is a basic bannock recipe. You will see many variations online, however.

2 cups flour
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
enough water to make a soft dough