Khubz, alternatively transliterated as khoubz, khobez, khubez, or khubooz,[clarification needed] is the usual word for "bread" in Standard Arabic and in many of the vernaculars.
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Among the breads popular in Middle Eastern countries are "pocket" pita bread in the Levant and Egypt, and the flat tannur bread in Iraq.
The oldest known kind of bread, found by archaeologists in the Syrian Desert (modern-day southern Syria and northern Jordan), dates back 14,000 years. It was a sort of unleavened flatbread made with several types of wild cereals.[1]
Pita is a flatbread found in many Mediterranean, Balkan, and Middle Eastern cuisines. In Arab countries, pita bread is produced as a round flatbread, 18 cm (7 in) to 30 cm (12 in) in diameter. It is thin and puffs up as it bakes. Since it does not contain any added fat, it dries out rapidly and is best consumed while still warm; later, it may become chewy.[4]
The "pocket" pita originated in the Middle East.[5][6] It is also known as Arab(ic) bread, Lebanese bread, or Syrian bread.[7][8][5]
In Egyptian, Palestinian, Jordanian, Lebanese, and Syrian cuisine, almost every savory dish can be eaten in or on pita bread. It is one of the staple food items in the Lebanese cuisine. Common fillings include falafel, lamb or chicken shawarma, kebab, omelettes such as shakshouka (eggs and tomatoes), hummus, and other mezes.
Nationals of other countries, for example, South Asians, also consume it as a replacement for roti with curries, cooked vegetables or meat (dry or gravy).