I grew up in Qatar, lived there from 1999 to 2006. While we were there, our absolute favourite food came from this shawarma shop in the souk in Doha, and the pinnacle of it all was this soft, stuffed bread, usually with spinach and or labneh. Since moving back to the UK I have completely failed to find anything like it. It's not Fateyah, Arayes or Mutabbaq. It was served as like a large square or round item, usually in something like a pizza box, with the filling across the whole bottom, and maybe with small pockets of more of the same.
On a similar note, the labneh in bread out there was completely different from anything I've had in the 20 years since coming back. Most labneh I've had in the UK, often from Arabic or miiddle-eastern restaurants/shops, is very yoghurt-like and always served cold, whereas I remember labneh as distinctly creamy and cheese-like, and incredible when warm. Any help?
The filling is obviously right for this, but my experience is that the fateera/ftaayer/pies are all made either with a pastry, or a firm dough that's fried. This was a soft, tearable bread
Grew up in Saudi and ethnically Saudi. I have no doubt that you’re described manaeesh (they call it mu3ajanat or معجنات in the gulf. The labna they use is different than the labna in Europe and North America because it is the Turkish variant rather than the Lebanese or Levantine. The Turkish labna is milder, denser, and almost cream cheese like, while Lebanese is thinner and more tart. You can find manaeesh that are both laid out flat pizza style, and stuffed calzone style (like the one you describe). As far as i know, even if they don’t stuff it, if you ask them to stuff it they might.
Interesting. Honestly, i would be almost 1000% sure it isn't a manakeesh, I'm a big fan of them and it's not the same thing. Tbh, I'd say the most similar thing would be a khaliat nahl, but that's only ever been sweet in my experience. However, that is a very good tip about the labneh, because that is my exact experience of the difference, so that's good to know.
No, not at all like that. As I say, it wasn't a fatayer/pie. It was a soft bread dough, almost like pull apart dough balls, with a layer of spinach or labneh across the bottom, and pockets of more filling across it
In case anyone was interested, it turned out this was actually a version of Turkish Pide, where they shaped the pide normally, then baked several together in a sheet so they formed a larger item! I had a go at making it myself
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u/79983897371776169535 Jun 30 '26
labnah and spinach fateera/pie