Manakish

Manakish
Manakish made with za'atar with vegetables on the side
Alternative namesManaqish, manaeesh, manakeesh (plural)
manooshe, man'ousheh, mankousheh (singular)
TypeFlatbread
CourseBreakfast or lunch
Place of originLevant
Region or stateSyria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine
Associated cuisineLevantine
Main ingredientsDough, za'atar, cheese or ground meat
Za'atar bread

Manakish (Levantine Arabic: مناقيش, romanized: manāʾīš), singular man'ousheh (منقوشة, manʾūše) is a popular Levantine pastry, consisting of dough topped with za'atar (مناقيش بالزعتر, manāʾīš biz-zaʿtar), cheese (مناقيش بالجبنة, manāʾīš bil-jibne), or ground meat. It can be sliced or folded, and it can be served either for breakfast or lunch.

Traditionally, women would bake dough in a communal oven in the morning to meet their family's daily bread needs, and would prepare smaller portions of dough with different toppings for breakfast at this time. Saj and taboon are also common traditional cooking instruments for manakish.

Manakish are popular across the Levant, and can also be found in neighboring regions, and centers of Levantine emigration.

In 2023, manakish was inscribed to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists as an emblematic culinary practice in Lebanon.

Etymology

In standard Arabic, the word manāqīš is the plural of the word manqūšah, from the root verb naqaša (‏نقش‎), 'to sculpt, 'to carve out' or 'to engrave'; meaning that after the dough has been rolled flat, it is pressed by the fingertips to create little dips for the topping to lie in. Syrian historian Khayr al-Din al-Asadi associated the word manaqish with Beirut. The 'q' (qāf, ق) in manaqish is pronounced as a glottal stop by some speakers of Levantine Arabic, which is sometimes reflected in English as mana'ish.

History

According to food historian Gil Marks, topped flatbreads like manakish and lahmacun became common in the Levant following the popularization of "baker's ovens" (furn) where the dough is placed on a heated floor rather than being baked vertically like a tannur.

German Orientalist Gustaf Dalman described manakish in his 1936 Arbeit und Sitte in Palaestina ("Work and Customs in Palestine") as leavened or unleavened dough coated in oil and oregano which is baked in a tabun oven.

Classic toppings

Lebanese manaqish being cooked on a saj

See also

References

  1. ↑ Specter, Michael (2 May 2016). "The Eternal Magic of Beirut". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 May 2019 – via NYTimes.com.
  2. ↑ Segura, John (21 July 2023). "Manakish: The Lebanese Flatbread You Need To Try At Least Once". The Daily Meal. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  3. ↑ Riolo, Amy (2007). Arabian Delights: Recipes & Princely Entertaining Ideas from the Arabian Peninsula (Illustrated ed.). Capital Books. p. 107. ISBN 9781933102559.
  4. ↑ "Cook this: Flatbreads with za'atar from Zaitoun". National Post. 4 April 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  5. ↑ "Lebanese Festival celebrates culture and cuisine over Memorial Day weekend". San Diego Union-Tribune. 21 May 2025. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  6. ↑ "Beirut Saj: Lebanon Comes to Tbilisi". Culinary Backstreets. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  7. ↑ "Tayba: Bite-size savory delicacies". Arab News. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  8. ↑ Irving, John (2006). Terra Madre: 1,600 Food Communities. Slow Food Editore. ISBN 9788884991188 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ "UNESCO - Al-Man'ouché, an emblematic culinary practice in Lebanon". ich.unesco.org. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  10. ↑ Tusing, David. "Manakish nominated to be added to Unesco's Intangible Cultural Heritage list". The National. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  11. ↑ Massaad, Barbara Abdeni (19 November 2019). Man'oushé: inside the Lebanese street corner bakery (First American ed.). Northampton, Massachusetts: Interlink Publishing. ISBN 978-1-62371-932-6. OCLC 1148154883.
  12. ↑ Khayr al-Din al-Asadi (1981). موسوعة حلب المقارنة [Comparative Encyclopedia of Aleppo] (in Arabic). p. 2624. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  13. ↑ Uvezian, Sonia (2001). Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen: A Culinary Journey Through Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. Siamanto Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-9709716-8-5. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  14. ↑ Marks, Gil (17 November 2010). "Lahmajin". Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. HMH. ISBN 978-0-544-18631-6. Retrieved 27 March 2026.
  15. ↑ Dalman, Gustaf (1964). Brot, Ol und Wein [Bread, Oil and Wine] (in German). G. Olms. p. 137. Retrieved 27 March 2026. manäkiS (Sing. manküS), kmäg, von gesäuertem oder ungesäuertem Teig, mit Öl und zerriebenem Dost (za'tar) bestrichen, im turn oder täbün mehrmals gebacken
  16. ↑ Bender, David (2009). A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199234875.
  17. 1 2 Wright, Clifford A. (2003). Little foods of the Mediterranean: 500 fabulous recipes for antipasti, tapas, hors d'oeuvre, meze, and more (Illustrated ed.). Harvard Common Press. p. 310. ISBN 9781558322271.
  18. ↑ Carter, Terry; Dunston, Lara; Humphreys, Andrew (2004). Syria & Lebanon (2nd, illustrated ed.). Lonely Planet. p. 68. ISBN 9781864503333. manaeesh.
  19. 1 2 Jonze, Tim (8 August 2018). "Manousheh: the Lebanese breakfast pizza that stole my heart". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  20. 1 2 3 "منقوشة" [Manqousheh]. The New Arab (in Arabic). 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  21. ↑ El-Haddad, Laila M.; Schmitt, Maggie (2016). The Gaza kitchen: a Palestinian culinary journey (Second ed.). Charlottesville, Virginia: Just World Books. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-68257-008-1. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
  22. ↑ Moraba, Kareh (2016). "The Story of Kashk". Gastronomica. 16 (4): 97–100. doi:10.1525/gfc.2016.16.4.97. JSTOR 26362399.
  23. ↑ "The Lebanese Bakery and Kitchen: Magic, Marhaba & Manakish – Food & Home Magazine". www.foodandhome.co.za. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  24. ↑ "مذاق حياة فلسطين.. طاه مقدسي يعرف السياح على بلاده من خلال الطعام". Al-Araby. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  25. ↑ "Jerusalem chef gives tourists a Palestinian taste of life in the Old City". Reuters. 22 December 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  26. ↑ Kassis, Reem (17 January 2023). "Hummus, Tahini and Other Tastes of Home in Jerusalem's Old City". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 15 February 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  27. ↑ "«المنقوشة»... من المائدة اللبنانية إلى شوارع العالم" ["Manousheh"... from the Lebanese table to the streets of the world]. Asharq Al-Awsat (in Arabic). 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  28. ↑ Gregory-Smith, John (9 May 2019). Saffron in the Souks: Vibrant recipes from the heart of Lebanon. Octopus. p. 314-315. ISBN 978-0-85783-789-9. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  29. ↑ ""الدقة".. ملاذ الجائعين في غزة" ["Duqqa": A Haven for the Hungry in Gaza]. WAFA (in Arabic). 2025. Retrieved 5 October 2026.
  30. ↑ "الدقة والزعتر "أسلحة" لم تخذل الغزيين خلال أوقاتهم الصعبة". Arabi 21 (in Arabic). 3 June 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2026.