They live on it.
Baladi bread is round, flat, crusted with granulated barley and since 2008, fortified with folic acid and iron. It's delicious alone, with fresh tomatoes, white cheese, ful, hummus or anything else you might put on top of it or dip it into.
Because subsidized by the government, it's cheap.
For many Egyptians, it's 40% of their daily calories; in hard times, the number who depend on it increases. When supplies run out, as they did in 2008, there can be food riots.
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This actor at the Pharonic Village bakes bread in a traditional mud and straw oven. While rural women may still bake their own bread, using ovenes like this, city dwellers buy theirs from commercial producers.
Import of flour and its distribution is said to be one of the most corrupt aspects of the Egyptian economy.
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Egyptians have been eating it since pharonic times.
How to make baladi bread
Many say you can't really make baladi bread in a modern oven, but if you want to give it a go, try this recipe from the Egypt Daily News.
Make the dough and bake the bread in one to two hours.
Ingredient
1) 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour.
2) 7 oz. water.
3) 1/2 tsp. salt.
4) 1/4 oz. Dry Yeast.
Bake Procedures
1) Put flour and salt in an oversized bowl.
2) Mix Dry Yeast with the water.
3) Slowly add water.
4) Take turns kneading the dough.
5) Spread flour on a clean, flat surface.
6) Roll dough into small balls.
7) Form balls into flat round shapes or triangles.
8) Cover with a cloth for one to two hours only.
In one to two hours:
Bake bread on a greased sheet for 30 minutes at 350 Degree heat.
For more food: ful, kushary, mulukheyya.
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