Nourish Community
REEM ASSIL ON FEEDING FOLKS
Reem Assil at Reem’s California. Photo: Shadia Fayne
Throughout history and across cultures, bread has been a source of sustenance for the hard work ahead. In the face of ongoing crisis, gathering together to break bread might feel like a small thing. But taking the time to truly care for each other is a radical practice. We are better able to meet this moment when we are well-fed.
Palestinian-Syrian organizer, chef, and educator Reem Assil embodies this ethos particularly powerfully. As the Founder of Reem’s California, Reem drew on her experience as a labor organizer to build a dynamic community hub rooted in the power of the people. In the years since then, she has continued to collaborate with artists, organizers, and educators to create culinary experiences in support of social justice.
For Reem, bread is foundational to her work. The following recipe, adapted from Reem’s beautiful book Arabiyya, is both meditative to make and sweet to share.
Reem’s Arabic Bread
Makes ten 8” pita breads
Photo: @naderkhouri
Food + Prop Stylist: @jjoules
It’s amazing to think that pita bread, or as we call it Khobz Arabi, became popular as an American food within my lifetime. While I was growing up, it was a rarity to find it unless we made our way to the Arab markets. My mom used to carve out some special room in the freezer to store the stacks we needed for our weekend breakfast mezze or for gatherings of guests. For those, she would flip the flat rounds back and forth over the open flame of our stove, filling the kitchen with the smell of fresh toasty bread.
Over time, I’ve tasted Arab breads in every imaginable size and thickness. This recipe makes ten 8-inch breads with just enough heft to give them a nice chew, although slightly thicker than the Lebanese pita we had growing up. If you like a “chubbier” pita, feel free to roll out to 6 inches instead. If you want a thinner pita, divide the dough into 12 pieces.
No matter how many times I make this recipe, I never tire of the sight of my bread rising into a beautiful bubble as it cooks. If the dough is strong and the heat is high, it will hold a lovely crust without deflating. To this day, I try to bake a symmetrical pocket evenly thick on both crusts. No matter the width, these beautiful breads go perfectly with just about any recipe in Arabiyya and form the base for an infinite combination of toppings.
Dough
5½ cups/770g bread flour
2½ cups/590ml warm water (about 100°F)
1½ teaspoons/6g sugar
1 tablespoon/9g active dry yeast
1 cup/140g all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon/9g kosher salt
¼ cup/60ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing the bowl
Semolina flour for dusting
Artwork by @cececarpio, whose powerful artwork has brought Reem’s interiors to life from the Fruitvale to the Mission. This piece is featured in Reem’s cookbook Arabiyya, depicting the vibrant street corner bakeries that inspired the vision of Reem’s.
Instructions
In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl, add the bread flour and then stir in 2¼ cups/530ml of the water. With the paddle attachment on low speed or using a sturdy spoon, mix until it resembles a sticky dough. Set aside for 20 minutes.
While the flour and water mixture rests, stir together the remaining ¼ cup/60ml water, sugar, and yeast in a small bowl. Set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes. At this point, the yeast mix should give off a sweet fragrance and show a bubbly bloom.
To mix by hand: Use your hand to incorporate the yeast mixture, all-purpose flour, salt, and oil into the dough. Squeeze the dough between your thumb and fingers with one hand while holding the bowl with the other hand, until it forms a rough and shaggy ball. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until the dough is smooth, springs back when dimpled, and stretches like a windowpane. This usually takes up to 10 minutes of kneading.
To mix in a stand mixer: Add the yeast mixture, all-purpose flour, salt, and oil to the bowl and use the dough hook to mix the dough on low speed until everything comes together, scraping the bowl if needed. Turn up the speed to medium and mix until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, 8 to 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and springs back when dimpled.Form the dough into a ball. Then coat a large bowl with oil and transfer the dough into the bowl.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp dish towel and let it rise in a warm draft-free place for 1½ hours or until doubled in size. If you are not planning to use the dough right away, refrigerate for up to 12 hours until doubled in size.
Divide the prepared risen dough into 10 pieces (about 137 grams each). Shape the pieces into rounds, cover with a dry dish towel (or brush the dough with a bit of oil and cover gently with plastic wrap), and let rest for 20 minutes. If you are not baking right away, you can also shape and set aside in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours until you are ready to bake.
When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 500°F. Arrange the oven racks on the upper and lower thirds of the oven; if you are using a baking stone, remove the lower rack from the oven, place the stone on the floor of the oven, and preheat the oven for at least 45 minutes.
Place the dough rounds on a lightly floured work surface, sprinkle them with flour, and pat each round into a 4-inch disk. Working your way around the rim of each disk, use your thumb and index finger to pinch the edges and stretch out the dough. (If the dough is resistant, allow the round to rest, covered with plastic wrap or a dish towel, for another 5 to 10 minutes.) Once you have pinched around the whole circle, sprinkle with a light dusting of flour. Continue the process for the remaining disks.
Using a rolling pin, roll out each round, up and then down once, shift a quarter turn and repeat the process, dusting with flour as needed, until you have an 8-inch disk. Continue the process for the remaining disks. Let the disks rest for another 5 minutes. If space is limited, stagger your disks on top of each other and dust with an ample amount of flour.
Sprinkle a thin layer of flour over two inverted sheet trays and place two or three disks on each one. To give the pita room to rise, remove the top rack of the oven. Place one of the sheet trays on the lower rack for 2 to 3 minutes or until the pita rise into a bubble and you see pleasing spots of brown.
Remove the sheet tray from the oven and transfer the pita in a single layer to a wire rack so that they keep their shape. Place your next prepared sheet tray in the oven while your first sheet tray cools. Repeat the process, rotating between the two sheet trays, until all of your pita breads have been baked.
Reem Assil is a Palestinian-Syrian chef and activist, based in Oakland, CA, working at the intersection of food, community, and social justice. She is the founder of nationally-acclaimed Reem’s California, an Arab bakery and restaurant that builds community across cultures and experiences through the warmth of Arab bread and hospitality. Reem has garnered an array of top accolades in the culinary world, including James Beard finalist for Outstanding Chef (2022) and back-to-back semifinalist for Best Chef: West (2018-19). Before dedicating herself to a culinary career, Reem spent over a decade as a community and labor organizer, building leadership to have a voice in their jobs and their neighborhoods. Reem is the author of IACP award-winning cookbook Arabiyya: Recipes from the Life of an Arab in Diaspora (2022).
Photo by Theo Schear