Lebanon is a country in Western Asia with Syria, Isreal,Cyrpus as boundaries. A unique cultural history has helped to make Lebanese food the most popular of all Middle Eastern cuisines. Lebanon has been ruled by foreign powers that have influenced the types of food the Lebanese ate.The Ottoman Turks controlled Lebanon and introduced a variety of foods that have become staples in the Lebanese diet, including olive oil, fresh bread, baklava a sweet pastry dessert, laban (homemade yogurt), stuffed vegetables, and a variety of nuts. France took control of Lebanon and introduced the flan, a caramel custard dessert and buttery croissants. I have been running a month of blogging marathon with A to Z International flatbreads and today is my last post of this month's mega marathon. And for the alphabetic letter 'Z', i couldnt think more than Zaatar spice mix, hence i opted for Zaatar pizza for this last post. The manoosheh recipe is often compared to  Italian pizza, hence it is called “Lebanese pizza”.Zaatar manooshe aka Zaatar pizza is the most popular version. Each flatbread is topped with a mixture of za’atar and olive oil before being cooked and are most often consumed at breakfast with tea, but also after dinner accompanied by soft drinks.

Am running a month of blogging marathon with A-Z International flatbreads.And we are almost nearing the end of this Mega marathon. And my today's flatbread is supposed to start with the alphabetical letter 'X'. X is definitely a complicated alphabetic letter to get a flatbread. Obviously i grabbed a flatbread aka stove topped muffins  from Priya's space which ressembles quite like English muffins from Xaxaba of Botswana.Botswana is officially known as Republic of Botswana is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. Botwana cuisine is unique which shares some characteristics with other cuisines of South Africa.Sorghum and maize are the main crops grown in Botswana. African cuisine is based towards the meat and grains. Mopane worm which looks like a caterpillar is eaten by the Botswana peoples by cooking them in hot ashes, boiled or dried and fried. Bread flour is not easily available in their diet, hence the flours have been imported for some years, so there are various bread recipes have become a part of the national food. The most common are dumplings like matlebekwane,flat cakes like diphaphatha and fat cakes like magwinya have their own place in a Botswana dining table.

Indian cuisine shares varieties of parathas, these Indian flatbreads have their own place in many thalis or in everyone's meals. Parathas are the most popular unleavened breads in India. And parathas are prepared with whole wheat dough.This dough when rolled out either thick, thin or stuffed, which is later cooked in hot tawa makes this parathas. Parathas are eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner depending upon how they are served with a side dish or simply with spiced curd. You might have noticed that am running a month of blogging marathon with A-Z International flatbreads. And my post for today's blogging marathon goes for our own Indian flatbread. Since today's flatbreads calls for the alphabetic letter 'W', i grabbed an Awadhi flatbread aka Warqi Paratha. Awadhi cuisine is a cuisine of Lucknow city and this city is known of its Nawabi foods. Awadhi cuisine is quite a rich cuisine and this cuisine involves many rich ingredients like paneer, malai, mutton and spices like cardamom and saffron in most of their dishes. Awadhi spread consists of elaborated dishes like kebabs, kormas, biryanis, kulchas, sheermal,zarda, roomali rotis and warqi parathas.

Umbria is a region of central Italy, and its the only region having neither a coastline nor a border with other countries. Wiki says that Umbria is known for its landscapes, traditions, history, culinary delights, artistic legacy and influence on culture.Umbrian cuisine have its origins from its Etruscan roots and they are simple, relying very heavily on the seasonal ingredients that can be found easily in their own soil. Hence their cuisine is highly prepared with mushrooms, wild asparagus and many other fresh vegetables including the highly prized truffles that grow throughout the region.Bread varieties change from region to region across Italy, but also vary greatly across a specific region. Umbrian cuisine is about good flavor, freshness, and simplicity. It’s rich soil provides its residents an unlimited number of amazing seasonal ingredients which are simply prepared to highlight the true flavor of each dish.Umbria is birthplace to the ancient art of butchery, and home to the treasured black truffle. Hence Umbrian cuisine is unique to the region, and authentic to it’s origins.

Pakistan is Islamic Republic country in South Asia. Its one of most populous country with Islamabad as capital. Pakistani cuisine is a blend of various regional cooking traditions of India, Central Asia. Pakistani cuisine is quite flavoursome rich cuisine with western part of the country is strongly influenced by Persian and Central Asian style while the eastern part is more similar to Northern Indian cooking. Located between Afghanistan, India and below China, Pakistan have a rich history with wonderful food and culture. The unique thing about Pakistani food is its changes from season to season. People of Pakistan are fond of eating specific types of foods depending upon the weather and season.Meat plays an important role in Pakistani Cuisine, the National dish is Chicken Biriyani. However lentils,meat, vegetables,flour and wheat products are abundantly used in this cuisine. Coming to my today's flatbread, its a flatbread which is quite common in Persion, Pakistani and Indian cuisine especially in Uttar Pradesh. Taftan Naan is a spongy flatbread which is prepared with simple ingredients available in our pantry.

Morocco is a Northwestern African country with rugged mountains, large tracts of desert and lengthy coastline with Atlantic ocean and Mediterranean sea. Moroccan cuisine is a mix of Arabic, Andalusian and Mediterranean cuisines with European and Subsaharan influence. Moroccan's  quite popular and familiar dish is Couscous, its quite a old national delicacy. Daily meal of a moroccan people have a bread in their menu. Bread in Morocco is traditionally made with durum wheat semolina and its known as  Khobz. Bakeries in Morocco serves fresh breads as its a staple in every city, town and village. Moroccan cuisine have number of flat breads and they do exists as both leavened and unleavened which are mostly pan fried breads.Bread will be always on each Moroccan tables and eaten with almost every meal. Bread is always served with traditional cuisine of Morocco which consists of tajines, stews and soups. Moroccan breads are primarily made by all women at home and often twice daily. This results in fresh and delicious breads of all kinds from flatbreads to pancakes.

Uzbek cuisine one of the most savoury cuisine in Central Asia. With very appetizing flavours, Uzbek food make everyone's mouth water. Plov, manti, shurpa, shashlik, lagman, samsa are Uzbek dishes which smell too good so that one cant resist to taste all those dishes.Many Uzbek recipes have centuries-old history, and the process of preparing food is accompanied with various rituals. At their fertile valleys, Uzbek people raise their own vegetables, fruits and cereals.Needless to say Uzbek foods are influenced with some culinary traditions of Turkic, Kazakh, Uigur, Tajik, Tatar, Mongolian and other neighboring nations, settled on the territory of Central Asia.Pastry and sour-milk dishes take an important place in Uzbek food. The national Uzbek food is prepared with wide use of meat: mutton, beef and horse meat. As much as like most of the Asian countries, each regions of this country cook in their own way.In the north, people serve food with plov, roasted meat, pastry and lepeshka (bread). On the south people prepare wide variety of complicated dishes of rice and vegetables and also make excellent desserts.

Uzbekistan is a Central Asian country which is bordered by five countries : Kazakhstan in north, Kyrgyzstan to northest, Tajikistan to southeast, Afghanistan to south and Turkmenistan to southwest. Uzbek cuisine shares many culinary traditions of Turkic peoples of Central Asia. Breads and noodles are the most favourite foods hence Uzbek cuisine has been considered as Noodle rich. Uzbekistan's signature dish is Palov, a pilaf made with rice,meat and variety of vegetables. Uzbek bread are called as Non or Patyr which is baked in clay pots. Called as Lepyoshkia in Russia, the circular flat loaves are decorated with depression at the center and thicker rim all around. Most known non of Uzbek cuisine is Obi Non. Obi nons are baked in tandir oven and its a staple bread of Uzbek locals. However obi non is also quite popular in Afghan and Tajik cuisine as well.

Afghanistan,officially known as the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is located in South Asia with Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, China,Uzbekistan and Tajikistan as border countries. Afghan cuisine is sufficiently based on the crops grown there in Afghanistan like wheat, maize, barley and rice served with native fruits, vegetables and daily products such as milk, yogurt and whey.Unlike the foods from its neighbours to the east,  spices are used in Afghan dishes, are neither too hot nor pungent.Afghan food is not bland. In fact, many western travelers find the foods of Afghanistan a perfect blend of exoticness and good taste.Cooking and food have a very important role in Afghan culture. Unexpected guests might be seen as rude in western culture, but not in Afghan culture. Coming away from an Afghan table hungry is simply never happens, no matter how little preparation time the host has.Food is well appreciated and even has special meaning, for example, stepping on a piece of dropped bread or naan is considered sinful.Afghans take great pride in their cooking and they are very happy to see everyone full and satisfied.

Algeria is a North African country on Mediterranean coast. With Algiers as capital, Algerian cuisine is a part of Maghreb cuisine. This cuisine is influenced by various cultures like Berber, Andalusican, Ottoman, Arabic and French. Algerian cuisine differs from region to region and most of the Algerian dishes consists of Bread, lamb,beef, poultry, olive oil, fresh vegetables and herbs. Algerian meal is incomplete without bread and their bread is always made with semolina. Matlou is a well known bread in Algeria which is also consider as a Tunisian bread. This bread is also called as Khubz al-tajin or Kesra Matlou or else as Matlou. This bread is an Algerian staple food which is cooked on a typical clay pan called 'Tajine'. This bread calls for fine semolina and its a leavened flatbread which is consumed everyday in Algeria/Tunisia.And this bread is must during Ramadan to enjoy with varieties of foods cooked during the fasting.In Algeria, bread is highly respected and its considered as a sin to desecrate it. If someone find a piece of a bread in street, people who have find it bring it closer to their lips and forehead as a sort of reverence before putting them aside so that none would step on it.

Norway is one of the most known Scandinavian country. With Oslo as its capital, Norwegian cuisine is a traditional form of their own cuisine cooked with the ingredients really available in Norway. However this cuisine is influenced by some globalization hence pastas, pizzas, tacos are easily available in Norwegian cuisine. Bread is a staple food of Norwegian cuisine. Hence varieties of breads are available. One of the most known Norwegian bread is Lefse, this is a soft flatbread made out of potato,milk or cream and flour. Lefse is a traditional Norwegian flatbread which is quite soft and bit tricky to handle. Usually prepared with mashed potatoes, this flatbread is worked with little flour and roll out flat as much as you can. Once cooked on stovetop, this bread can be enjoyed with different sorts of spreads. From butter to jam, peanut butter to nutella, you can also eat them with savoury fillings as well. Just make some wraps with this Lefse stuffed with meats and cheese, am sure these wraps will definitely fill your hungry tummies. When conserved properly, lefse stays prefect for a week in fridge. Once freezed, lefse can be conserved for almost three months.