There is a category of bread that exists in almost every culture — the simple, stovetop flatbread that requires no oven, no special equipment, and no advanced technique, yet produces something so genuinely satisfying that it becomes the bread you make when you want bread now, when the oven feels like too much effort, when you want the entire kitchen to smell wonderful within the hour. Bazlama is Turkey’s version of this bread, and it may be the best version that exists anywhere. Known in rural Turkish communities as “village bread” and eaten at breakfast, with meals, as a vehicle for dips and spreads, and fresh from the skillet as a snack on its own, bazlama is a leavened flatbread that occupies a category somewhere between naan and pita but is, in the opinion of many people who have tried all three, significantly better than either. It is thick, pillowy, and cloud-soft inside, with a lightly golden and subtly blistered exterior, and it delivers a gentle tang from yogurt that makes it taste more complex and interesting than any bread this simple has any right to be.
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