“Mum, is this bread Lebanese or French?”
Small Man came home crook from school on Friday, so on Saturday morning, I baked him fougasse loaves topped with za’atar. Traditionally, za’atar topped flatbreads called man’oushe are served as a Lebanese breakfast, and my son adores them.
Fougasse are quick and easy to make – the yeasted dough proves quickly, the loaves don’t need a second rise, and they bake up in just 15 minutes in the oven. I wrote a detailed post a few years ago and my basic bread formula is listed below, but the shaping technique can easily be applied to whatever dough you normally use…
- 500g bakers/bread flour
- 10g dried yeast
- 8g fine sea salt
- 320g water
- 50g olive oil
The za’atar I use is Jordanian by Al Salam. I mix it with light olive oil to create a spreadable paste…
If you can’t buy a za’atar blend, you can mix your own using this recipe from Spice Notes by Ian Hemphill, owner of Herbie’s Spices:
- 3 tsp dried thyme leaves, crushed but not powdered in a pestle and mortar
- 1 tsp sumac
- ½ tsp toasted sesame seeds
- ¼ tsp salt
I spread the spice paste over the shaped fougasse with my fingers – it’s a messy process! Once shaped and coated, the dough goes straight into the oven…
My 900g batch of dough resulted in six fougasse – Small Man ate three of them for lunch. They’re a fun and easy weekend bake!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Love this take on focaccia, Celia! I have zatar in my pantry and this is a great use for it.
Phil will have four friends over for a weekend golfing adventure next month, so I think I’ll surprise the “boys” with this recipe…. seems perfect!
ooops, sorry – please read “fougasse” instead of focaccia….
See, I was just thinking, “ooh Sally’s clever, this probably would work well on focaccia too…” :)
glad you were so kind! ;-) ;-) ;-)
I am going to make this without delay!! Yum!
Hope you love it, Misky! :)
This looks wonderful Celia but I’m sitting here still trying to figure out how to pronounce it (usually I mangle even the easy ones so you can imagine what’s I’m coming up with).
Hahaha… we’ve agreed below.. “mahn-oosh foo-gahs”.. :)
I could easily eat Man’oushe Fougasse but saying it correctly would be a whole other thing…
Man-oosh foo-gus (we think :))
Fougasse; fou-GAHS . I just looked up a sourdough version yours looks so delicious!
Yes, you’re right! It is foo-gahs! I asked Small Man to give it to me in IPA but we couldn’t find the right keyboard.. :)
They look wonderfully tasty, love man’oushe!
Thanks darling, we do too! :)
it has been such a long time since I have eaten a good bread- this looks wonderful.
It’s tough being away and not being able to bake your own! :)
Thanks Celia for childhood memories with my Tayta (Gran).M’anoushe is our brekky staple for 4 out of 7 days a week, with the addition of Labna, olives, scrambled eggs, pickled turnips etc…Sometimes I add mozzarella or tasty cheese on top of the M’anoushe which melts right into it & I could easily eat 3…shhhhh :)
Lina, I watched a Food Lovers Guide segment on it years ago, and have been hooked ever since. I have to say, the Lebanese have the best breakfasts – man’oushe, labna, moghrabieh – I reckon I’d sit down at breakfast and not leave the table all day! :)
Sorry to hear that Small Man is sick. It’s definitely going around. I’m still sick from a couple of weeks ago so hopefully his is not the same strain as mine. I adore fougasse, it’s so soft and delicious!
Pete and I have it now and it’s been hard to shake! Hope you’re better soon x
Oh my, I can’t believe it bakes that quickly. What a wonderful treat for someone not feeling the best.
Maureen, it’s SO fast! I’m not sure why we don’t make it more often!
Nom noms!
Delicious – a perfect snack! I love za’atar and always have it on hand.
Amanda, we love za’atar – there’s always a jar of it here as well! :)
What a fantastic idea Celia! I love za’atar (I am obsessed with the stuff and recently found a huge bag of it in a Middle Eastern store, much to my excitement!) and I often sprinkle it onto Turkish bread with some lemon oil when baking it. I love the idea of trying these breads as an alternative. Thanks for the recipe! Haha… love your son’s comment, too. Entirely understandable! x
Laura, it’s very addictive isn’t it? The traditional way (on flatbread) is very delicious, although your version on Turkish bread sounds divine (love the idea of lemon oil!).
Love the Aussie slang for sick. Hope he’s better Celia :)
Thanks Tandy! Pete and I are a bit crook now, but we’ll mend.. :)
That small man of yours is one lucky boy.
Thanks Glenda, I’ll remind him when he gets up.. :D
No sumac here. Any suggestions for a replacement or is it vital to the flavor? The bread looks amazing.
Greg, it’s pretty essential, but you might be able to substitute some lemon? More info about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumac
I love your special fougasse,…very creative & they must smell Amazing when they are baking in the oven,…yummmmm!
With What do you eat them????? 😊
Sophie, we eat them straight! But traditional man’oushe (the flatbread variety) is usually accompanied with pickles, fresh tomato, cucumber, labne etc.
Thank you! 😀
How funny, was just reading a recipe for this in the Paul Hollywood baking book – am feeling inspired!
For fougasse? It’s a dead easy bread to make, and everyone thinks you’re clever when you do… win win! :D
Yes, for fougasse – I think yours looked prettier than the one in his book!
Beautiful looking bread. I reckon I would have eaten four. lol
Thank you! I had to stop my son at three – after all, he was SUPPOSED to be sick.. :)
These looks so delicious! What a wonderful weekend treat.
I am sooooo going to make these…sigh… so much to make not enough time!
(emmm bread…drooling right now…)