North Africa · Side

Khobz Tabouna (Clay-Oven Sourdough Bread)

Name: Khobz Tabouna (Clay-Oven Sourdough Bread)
Prep time: 180 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 195 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Tunisia
Ingredients: 400 g fine durum wheat semolina (smida rkika); 100 g unbleached all-purpose flour; 120 g ripe sourdough starter (100% hydration) or prefermented levain; 3 g active dry yeast; 10 g fine sea salt; 8 g nigella seeds (habba sawda); 8 g whole fennel seeds (besbes); 10 g white sesame seeds (jelljlan); 20 ml extra-virgin olive oil; 310 ml lukewarm spring water (approx. 35°C); 50 ml salted water (for basting the underside prior to baking)

A smoky, blistered flatbread made from coarse semolina and wild aromatics, traditionally slapped onto the red-hot clay walls of an outdoor tabouna.

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tunisian-breadsemolina-flatbreadberber-cuisinewood-fired

The story

Baked daily by rural Berber women across northern and inland Tunisia, Khobz Tabouna centers community life around communal earthenware conical ovens (tabouna) fired with olive wood and dried rosemary. Historically, the dough relies on a fermented starter (khamira arbi) and a blend of durum semolina kneaded vigorously to develop structural elasticity. The defining artisan technique requires dampening one side with salted water so the dough adheres instantly to the vertical clay wall without sliding into the embers.

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