As-Salaam-Alaikum (ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ),
It is with a full heart that I am writing you here now, as a dream of mine has been fulfilled and the ability to share that dream, that undoubtedly many of you also have, is finally here. Twelve years ago my journey as a cook started. I found something that I could pursue wholeheartedly, something that gave life to a wandering spirit. It was then that I said to myself one day I will be able to make manaeesh, like that of Latif Pastry, maybe even better. It was not until the past few years that all the knowledge, the hard work, the countless hours, the struggle, all the ups and downs finally made sense. It all clicked and from there the pursuit felt like it had finally begun. I have done what I only dreamed of. The memory as a child sitting on the counter watching flatbreads bake has encompassed my desire to make something that made up such a big part of my life. This flatbread was loved by so many as a snack, a meal during recess, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It did not matter, it was always good...I hope this brings a tear to your eye and a rush of memories like it did for me when I finally made the final recipe. Thank you for your support and if you want to know more about what I envision for the future of Latif Breads please read below.
Wa-Alaikum-Asalaam (وَعَلَيْكُمُ ٱلسَّلَامُ),
Grant Bushkuhl
Third Culture Kid, Aramacon, Manaeesh Lover
Chef-Owner of Latif Breads
The Future Is Bright
If you go back in time, back to the year 1998, walk down Prince Saad Street in Khobar, Saudi Arabia you would walk past a bakery called Latif Pastry. Amongst numerous jumbled signs a seemingly inconspicuous blue and white sign invite you in to the smell of freshly baked bread and spices. Now fast forward to the year 2021, if you were to walk down Prince Saad Street you would see the same blue and white sign, like nothing has changed, and well, it has not. It is the same bakery, same menu, smells, and feelings that were there 20 years ago. In this day and age, a restaurant to last more than two years is very uncommon, with a 95% failure rate. For a restaurant to last 10 years, you have created a legacy, which is an even smaller success rate. When you hit the 20+ year mark you are in grand company of the highest regard. For a bakery that average $1-2 USD per flatbread you have to have something so special to make it that long.
This rings bells all throughout the world, there are well established brands, well established restaurants, restauranteurs, mom & pop shops, all that are revered by their community and sometimes the world. It is my sole mission to share with people in the United States this bread and for those people to understand that it is more than just a bread, a meal, or just something from the Middle East. This bread belongs right beside Naan, and in my honest opinion in higher regard than that, but as something that people recognize, not as Pita or just another Flatbread, but as its own identity; Manaeesh, Manaoushe, Manakeesh. Often I have to explain this bread as a dairy free alternative to Naan, a bread that is soft and pillowy, what dreams are made of. The great thing about right now, in this day and age, people are more open and willing to try things outside of their own palate comfort zone. Naan paved the way when it comes to breads that are uncommon on a large commercial scale. Nationally it was Stonefire who really pushed their product from an ever popular restaurant in L.A. to a nationally known bread seen at major grocery stores across the United States.
What Is The Next Move?
If you ever find yourself walking down the freezer isle in any grocery store you are overwhelmed with an inundation of products that are geared toward quick, easy, and alright tasting foods and bread stuffs. As you walk down the aisle you will almost always find Hot Pockets, a popular, even cheap filled bread that you pop in the microwave or oven until hot. Then you have got something that is to many a full meal wrapped in a bread. The problem with them is it all tastes cheap, very little flavor, and worst of all a poor tasting bread. If you have shitty bread you are going to have a shitty sandwich and that is just the truth. I firmly believe that all the little details in food matters most, because when you add them up you end up with a beautiful and flavorful food. If you keep walking up and down those aisles you will not find many other variations or competition to big food Hot Pocket. This is where topped and folded Manaeesh comes in, as a direct competitor to filled and stuffed breads. It is a mountain to climb but it is important in the sharing of such a beloved bread of my childhood. What we known is that the quality of the bread, the flavor and flavor combinations will far surpass that of any Hot Pocket out there. We will, however, never beat the insanely low prices of such products because we firmly believe good food takes time and great ingredients to go with it.
The Future Is Drive Thru
Whenever I think of drive thru, I think of cheap, quick, and easy. I also think of what I value most in drive thru menus and foods, simplicity. Menus from places like In-N-Out, Chick-Fil-A, Raising Cane's make sense to me, simple, clean, executed well. Others like McDonalds, Panera Bread, Sonic, the list could go on, offer so much variety, thinking that more variety reaches a varied and wider audience, albeit successful businesses, are constantly trying to do more. With success on both sides, there is a lot to learn from already well established companies that have secured their niche and piece of the pie in the fast food industry.
What my thought is when thinking about why drive thru business model works with Latif Breads is the KISS model (Keep It Simple Stupid) is that there are very few options when it comes to drive thru bakeries, really only one or two come to mind in Colorado. Because of the nature of how quickly Manaeesh bakes, like a Neapolitan pizza, you can bake a piece 45 seconds to 1 minute. This quick baking process would fit into the fast food model perfectly. Although most fast food is not "made to order," it is more like put together to order, while most hot items are in hot boxes or steam tables. It has geared food production to fully processed ingredients and cheapened raw ingredients. With the idea of having a drive thru location this gears driving good food and ingredients quickly through a proven concept that ever grows into something new each year.
The beautiful thing about bread is that extended fermentation of dough adds to the overall flavor and texture of the bread. This means that instead of throwing away dough at the end of the day, which is a typical practice that many pizzerias do, we could extend that use of the dough for 2-3 days. This is just one way to squeeze pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters in a ever thin margin for food production while creating an exceptional product in quality and flavor. This is just one example of how to integrate the fast food idea concept to this wonderful bread product and how to share it on a large scale.
Potential Food & Drink Items For Brick & Mortar - Wholesale Bakery
As stated above the whole point of this concept is to create beauty in simplicity, and that goes for variety and options of food and goods available. In keeping with that thought these ideas below would harness an ever changing seasonal menu that has a base of permanent items.
Breads
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Manaeesh - Saudi Arabian Flatbread
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Flatkökur - Icelandic Rye Flatbread
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Khoubz Al Arabi - Arabic Bread
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Manacaccia - Za'atar, Smoked Maldon, & Soleggiati Tomato
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Makki Ki Roti - Indian Orange Corn GF Flatbread
Bread Topping
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Akkawi Cheese
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Za'atar & Olive Oil
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Labna
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Thalaatha Threat - Labna, Za'atar, Akkawi Cheese
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Spiced Carrot Puree, Akkawi Cheese (Or Vegan Cheese), Wild Mushrooms
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Chicken Shwarma
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Vegetable Shwarma (Vegan Cheese Available)
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Bacon Hater - Palisade Peach BBQ, Bacon Jam, Bacon Crumbles, Akkawi Cheese, Pickled Red Onion
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Saag Paneer
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Tikka Masala
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The list goes on...
Mezze (Snacks)
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Hummus
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Original (year round)
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Spring Pea (Spring & Summer)
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Sweet Potato (Fall & Winter
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Lemon-Parsley Tahini Sauce
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Za'atar Marinated Olives
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Shatta Levantine Style Hot Sauce
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Falafel
Spice
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Za'atar
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Sumac
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Sumac-Chipotle
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Djaj Shwarma Seasoning