Lahoh (Chadian fermented flatbread)

1. 1Made from a fermented sorghum or millet batter
2. 2Cooked on one side only, producing a porous, bubble-holed top surface
3. 3Soft, spongy, and slightly sour from fermentation
4. 4A single thin round, not stacked or layered
5. 5Eaten as a breakfast bread with sweet or savory accompaniments

Batter fermentation

Develops the sour flavor and the gas that creates the porous spongy crumb

One-sided griddle cooking

Steam escaping upward forms the characteristic open holes on the top

Served

Single round, eaten by hand or torn

Temperature

warm

Portion

One or more rounds per person

Pairs with

Honey · Ghee or oil · Stews and sauces · Tea

• Sorghum flour → Millet flouradmissible

  Both are traditional Sahel grains for lahoh

• Fermented batter → Unfermented batter with baking sodainadmissible

  Loses the defining sour tang and sponge character

• Skipping fermentation, losing both the tang and the spongy holes
• Flipping it to cook both sides, which collapses the porous surface
• Using only wheat flour and losing the sorghum/millet character

A fermented sorghum flatbread of the Lake Chad basin, part of a wider family of spongy fermented crepes across the Sahel and Horn of Africa.

1. 1.Sahelian and Horn of Africa culinary references

Confidence: medium