karahoyuk history

To understand the history of yeast-free breads in Turkiye, Syria, and Lebanon, it is essential to begin with the Syrian region, which had become a cradle of civilization early on, as clues reveal one of the oldest urban centers the world has ever known. Along the Mediterranean coast the Phoenicians traded in this area from 2000 to 1,000BC, until their reign met with a series of climatic disasters and marauding from the mysterious Sea Peoples. 

Inland from the Mediterranean, away from the turbulent seas is where the ancient city of Palmyra became established, west of the Euphrates River. Palmyra turned out to be strategic, as it received the Persian, Asian, and Indian traders, along the Silk Road. Intellectual development thrived in what was called Mesopotamia, which led to Achaeminid Persia (now Iran), and then the Eastern Roman Christian Empire, where Constantinople became the established capital of Byzantium. Even though the Byzantine empire spread over this area and lasted for the next thousand years, the Syrians, Lebanese, and Turks never lost their cultural Arabic traditions. These customs were deeply entrenched in the urban centers, and included traditional food dishes utilizing chickpeas, spices, Paximadi rusk breads, candied fruits, and sweet wine.

Around the 4th century this area again experienced unfavorable climate and barbarian invaders, along with endemic diseases like influenza and the plague. At one point, the wheat crops failed, and the resources and capacities throughout the empire were stretched to a breaking point. The Constantinople population shrank to a tenth of what it was, and by the late 7th century, public wheat distribution had ceased. Of course this impacted the production of bread, since that was a mainstay of the people’s daily diet. It is likely this major food decline exacerbated tensions between the autocratic rule of the  Byzantine empire and the concurrent rise of Islam that introduced new democratic and egalitarian ideas. People may have turned away from the food dishes associated with the old culture, so as to distinguish themselves from the Byzantines, which included an aversion to alcohol. As happened in Sudan, could the yeast derived from beer-making have become a prohibitive food ingredient that the growing Muslim populations shunned? Was it these Muslims who invented an alternative form of raised bread using fermented chickpeas as yeast?

There is written evidence in the Tastes of Byzantium by Andrew Dalby, from a 12th century Greek Byzantine poet, Theodore Prodromos, who lived in Constantinople. He wrote prolifically about food and culture. One of Prodomus’s quotes describes a 'white foam' bread that he did not like. Since the chickpea yeast bread produces a foam, this may be the first evidence of a yeast-free fermented bread 900 years ago! My theory is that perhaps Prodomus, being of the Christian faith, was expressing his prejudice of a bread from the Muslim culture.

A century later, the Seljuks, who were basically Persians, ruled across Turkiye, just prior to the Ottomans. In the small western village of Karhoyuk, Turkiye, Mahir Sag tells the legend of the Seljuk warriors seeking out the famous open-air markets to purchase the delicious bread rounds raised by the chickpea fermentation. These breads were considered “prestige technology” because the recipe did not contain yeast from the production of beer. Across this region, the chickpea yeast breads are also called Ka’ak for the round shapes covered with sesame seeds or Nohut Mayali Ekmek (chickpea yeast bread).