When I think about the many bready things I tend to cook, I usually classify them in my head according to how they riseāor, in the case of flatbreads like matzo, tortillas, and roti, how they donāt rise.
Traditional loaves rely on either commercial yeast or a natural leaven, a.k.a. a sourdough starter. Quick breads, such as soda bread and banana bread, get their loft from a chemical reaction between acidic and alkaline agents that produces bubbles of gasāusually a combination of baking soda and baking powder, sometimes with the addition of another acid, like buttermilk.
But one of my favorite types of bread sits somewhere between unleavened bread and pastry. Itās quick-laminated dough.
Youāre probably already familiar with laminated doughs. And if youāve ever made your own puff pastry or croissants (or, if youāre a masochist, kouign-amann), you definitely know the basics. First, you mix up a dough: sometimes with yeast and sometimes without; sometimes lean and sometimes larded with fat and sugar. You then shape it into a rectangle, upon which you place a softened block of butter. A long series of folds and resting periods ensues before the dough is ready to use. When it bakes up in the oven, steam (and, in the case of croissants, yeast) causes all of those layers to expand, giving you a dramatic rise full of flaky, paper-thin bits of buttery dough.
But thereās an easier way to laminate dough to give lots of layersāwithout dealing with the fuss of puff pastry. Breads like msemen, mlaoui, parathas, fesali, buss up shut, and shao bing all follow the same general principle as puff, but with a much quicker procedure.
Quick lamination usually goes like this: After making a basic dough, youāll roll it outāeither divided into portions already, or left as one giant sheet, stretched as thin as possible. Youāll want a super-smooth surface for thisānot a craggy old cutting board that will snag and tear the dough. After youāve rolled out the dough, youāll spread it with softened butter, ghee, or oil (or, as is the case with shao bing, a mix of flour and oil). Then youāll laminate: Some recipes call for you to fold the dough like an envelope or a triangle, sandwiching the layers of dough and fat, before rolling the dough flat again and cooking; others have you roll it up into a giant cigar, cut it into pieces, coil those into snail shapes, and roll it flat again.
Whether youāre rolling or folding, quick lamination accomplishes the same effect: distinct layers of dough, separated by a bit of fat, albeit without the precision of the meticulous layers in puff pastry. Even better? They donāt take all day to prepare, and theyāre still delightfully flaky and satisfying.
