The Georgian lavash, not the Armenian one. It's that flattish (but leavened) bread baked on the inside of a stone oven. Some bakers are better at it than others. The best lavash is the one that is so hot that you can barely touch it to carry it home.
I'm used to things appearing and disappearing in shops in Georgia, and 'my' baker opening and closing. But I thought he was 'always' just closed for the summer. He was closed when I was here in September, as was the other one (the best!) whose breadshop I passed on my way to work at the time.
Last weekend my baker was open, and it was wonderful. So tonight I trundled along - and found him closed. Muttering slightly, I turned back down the hill to find 'my' other baker - to find that he had finished for the day. Where to find another lavash? He waved generally in an easterly direction.
Along I trundled, further down the hill, round some corners, down some side streets - always having the nostrils on draft (you can smell a good baker's from the distance), the eyes peeled for people carrying lavashes. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
I thought I'd be reduced to buying a French stick from the expensive Spanish place with the French name near the Chancellory, when finally I found a little baker's which had some left. They were like that, too. Nothing to write home about - but by that time I was beyond caring.
Wonder what causes the ups and downs of supplies. Do people not buy them during the week? Is there a flour shortage? Are the bakers suddenly taking it easy? Are they making too much money (the price has increased by 40% since I started here two years ago)? Strange....
I'm used to things appearing and disappearing in shops in Georgia, and 'my' baker opening and closing. But I thought he was 'always' just closed for the summer. He was closed when I was here in September, as was the other one (the best!) whose breadshop I passed on my way to work at the time.
Last weekend my baker was open, and it was wonderful. So tonight I trundled along - and found him closed. Muttering slightly, I turned back down the hill to find 'my' other baker - to find that he had finished for the day. Where to find another lavash? He waved generally in an easterly direction.
Along I trundled, further down the hill, round some corners, down some side streets - always having the nostrils on draft (you can smell a good baker's from the distance), the eyes peeled for people carrying lavashes. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
I thought I'd be reduced to buying a French stick from the expensive Spanish place with the French name near the Chancellory, when finally I found a little baker's which had some left. They were like that, too. Nothing to write home about - but by that time I was beyond caring.
Wonder what causes the ups and downs of supplies. Do people not buy them during the week? Is there a flour shortage? Are the bakers suddenly taking it easy? Are they making too much money (the price has increased by 40% since I started here two years ago)? Strange....
2 comments:
Might be the gas price. Just went up quite a bit. And while lavash is great in summer you can't make toast with it in winter.
doubt very much that Georgians, the greater buyers of lavash, are prone to toast. Anyway, you eat it when it's warm....
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