GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A number of passersby stopped outside Skafi Bakery in central Gaza City, where Mohsen Skafi, 19, was creating large, thin circular shapes by quickly tossing and flipping dough before baking them on a saj oven. "Saj" bread, cooked on a convex metal plate heated over a fire, is part of Palestinian heritage. This type of bread is also known as "markouk" or "shrak" in the Gaza Strip.

While Skafi was making saj bread, he told Al-Monitor, “Although baking this type of bread is an old tradition in Palestinian society, and although there is a variety of modern breads available in the market such as French baguettes … it is still an important staple for Gazans and a key ingredient of some Eastern dishes such as fatteh, which most Palestinians make every Friday. Fatteh consists of boiled chicken or other meat with white rice and saj bread, soaked in meat gravy and garnished with pine nuts. Saj bread is also used for the Palestinian dish musakhan, which consists of small pieces of chicken blended with chopped onions, olive oil and sumac, grilled and placed inside saj bread, until it looks like a wrapped sandwich.”

Skafi explained how saj bread is made. “The dough is made of a mixture of flour, salt and lukewarm water. The ingredients are mixed and kneaded until they turn into a soft and sticky dough. The dough is divided into several portions, forming a small ball with each. Some flour is sprinkled on top of the dough to prevent the small balls from sticking to the baker's hands while dividing it. Then each ball is flattened using a rolling pin. The baker further flattens the dough by repeatedly and quickly flipping and tossing it until it is much larger. It is then transferred to the convex metal plate using a small cushion. Once on the metal plate, the flattened dough only needs a few seconds before it's ready,” he said.

He explained that in the past, saj bread was baked at home in a pleasant family atmosphere using firewood. These days, women rarely make saj bread at home, due to increased domestic responsibilities and urbanization.