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Lahmacun

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Lahmacun
Lahmacun with salad
Alternative namesLahmadjoune, Lahmajun, lahmajoun, lahm b'ajin, lahmajo, lahmajin, lahamagine, lahmatzoun
CourseMain
Region or stateLevant[1]
Serving temperatureWarm
Main ingredientsWheat flour, minced meat, vegetables and herbs
  •  Wikimedia Commons logo Media: Lahmacun

Lahmacun,[a] lahmajun, or lahmajo[b] is a Middle Eastern flatbread topped with minced meat (most commonly beef or lamb), minced vegetables, and herbs such as onions, garlic, tomatoes red peppers, and parsley, flavored with spices such as chili pepper and paprika, then baked.[3] Lahmacun is often wrapped around vegetables, including pickled vegetables, tomatoes, peppers, onions, lettuce, parsley, and roasted eggplant.[4][5][6][7]

It originated in the Levant region of West Asia and the earliest known written evidence of its existence come from medieval Syria[1] where it is traditionally known by its Arabic name lahm bi ʿajīn ("meat with dough").[8] Lahm bi ajeen, or lahmacun is a popular dish in Lebanon and Syria.[9][10]

Variants of lahmacun are also common in Armenia and Turkey,[11][2] where the dish became popular in local cuisines.[11] In English, it is sometimes referred to as "Lebanese pizza", "Armenian pizza",[12] or "Turkish pizza",[13] because of its round shape and superficial similarity to pizza, though it traditionally contains neither cheese nor tomato sauce and is made with a thinner crust.[14][11][15]

Etymology and terminology

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The name had entered English from Turkish lahmacun, pronounced lahmajun, and from Armenian լահմաջո (lahmajo), both derived from Arabic لحم [بـ]عجين (laḥm [bi-]ʿajīn), meaning "dough [with] meat".[16][17][9] The names lahmajin and sfiha are often used interchangeably to refer to certain foods.[18][19][20]

History

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Medieval Syria

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Flatbreads in the Middle East have been cooked in tandoors and on metal frying pans such as the tava for thousands of years.[17] They have been used to wrap meat and other foods for convenience and portability. However, until the wider adoption in medieval times of the large stone ovens, flatbreads stuffed or topped with meat and other foods were not baked together, cooking the bread and the topping at the same time.[17][9] The earliest known written evidence closely corresponding to laḥm bi-ʿajīn (lahmacun) comes from medieval Syrian culinary literature.

A 13th-century Syrian cookbook compiled in Aleppo, Kitāb al-Wusla ilā al-Ḥabīb (Scents and Flavors), contains a recipe describing minced meat spread on thin dough and baked in a brick oven (furn).[21] It instructs to “cut up meat small, then spread it on a round piece of dough and bake it in the oven.” This recipe is identified by scholars as the earliest textual reference to laḥm bi ʿajīn (“meat with dough”).[22][23][24][25]

Ottoman period

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The 17th-century Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi also notices the dish for the first time in Syria, Damascus, he listed lahm-ı acîn among the notable foods of Damascus.[26] This Ottoman reference records the name of the dish in a Syrian context several centuries after the earlier Aleppine cookbook tradition.[27] He listed it among the praised foods of the city in his Seyahatname.[28][29][30] In his book, Çelebi warns that a man who falls off his horse will become "a paste like lahm-ı acîn (lahmacun)".[31]

Nineteenth century

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An 1844 French–Arabic dictionary of Syrian and Egyptian Arabic by the Swedish orientalist Jacob Berggren [sv] defines lahm el-ʿajin (لحم العجين) as small baked pastries filled with minced meat, and mixed with sour milk or pomegranate juice before being cooked in an oven.[32] 2 recipes for lahma bi-ajin can be found in the 1885 cookbook titled Ustadh al-Tabbakhin by Lebanese writer Khalil Khattar Sarkis [ar], along with a recipe for meat-filled fatayer.[33]

Twentieth-century spread

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Turkey

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Before becoming widespread throughout Turkey, lahmacun was primarily associated with the southern and southeastern regions of the country, particularly around Urfa and Gaziantep, as well as with Arab countries.[34][35] Multiple studies state that lahmacun did not become widespread throughout Turkey until its introduction to Istanbul in the 1950s. Before that period, it was largely confined within Turkey to the southeast, a region with significant interaction with Arab culture and cuisine.[36][1]

According to Bal, migrants from southeastern Turkey brought lahmacun to Istanbul during the mid-20th century, contributing to its spread in the city and subsequently elsewhere in Turkey.[36] Anthropologist Ayfer Suna Bartu similarly recorded an Istanbul informant recalling that fifty years earlier nobody in Istanbul knew what lahmacun was, or that it had instead been called pizza.[37]

Lahmacun subsequently became a widely consumed dish in Turkey, while regional varieties remained particularly associated with southeastern Anatolia. In 2025, the European Union registered Antep Lahmacunu / Gaziantep Lahmacunu as a protected geographical indication (PGI).[38][39][40]

Armenia

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Lahmajo (the Armenian name for lahm bi 'ajin) became established in Armenia during the Soviet period through Armenian repatriation from the Middle East. The dish was introduced to Yerevan in the 1960s by Armenian repatriates from Aleppo, Syria.[41][42] Following the Second World War, around 90,000 diaspora Armenians, particularly from Lebanon, Iran, Egypt and Syria, settled in Armenia. Their food traditions contributed to Soviet Armenian cuisine, including lahmajo.[43] In the 1960s, lahmajo was associated with the new wave of repatriates and was referred to by locals as an "akhpar meal", a term used for diaspora Armenian repatriates. It was initially regarded as foreign to local cuisine before becoming incorporated into Armenian food culture.[44]

A variety of such dishes exist such as sfiha and manakish, became popular in Levant, such as Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and Syria. A thin flatbread, topped with spiced ground meat, became known as lahm b'ajin (meat with dough), shortened to lahmajin and similar names.[17][9]

Regional traditions

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Lahmajin from Mosul

In Assyrian tradition, lahmacun is served to those who are grieving the loss of a loved one, alongside coffee and other dishes.[45] In Mosul, Iraq, lahmajin is a common food served at any time of day.[46]

In The Netherlands lahmacun is often sold as a street food or snack, often under the name Turkish pizza. The lahmacun is rolled up and filled with salad, sambal and garlic sauce, often with added döner meat and/or cheese.[47]

Variations

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Controversy

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Due to the hostile nature of the relations between Armenia and Turkey, the opening of Armenian restaurants serving the food in Russia was met by some protests.[2][52] In March 2020, Kim Kardashian, an American socialite and media personality of Armenian heritage, posted a video on her Instagram saying "Who knows about lahmacun? This is our Armenian pizza. My dad would always put string cheese on it and then put it in the oven and get it really crispy." This sparked outrage among Turkish social media users, who lashed out at her for describing lahmacun as Armenian pizza.[53]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ /ˌlɑːməˈdʒuːn/ LAH-mə-JOON, Turkish: [lahmaːˈdʒun] ⓘ; Arabic: لحم بعجين, romanized: laḥm bi-ʿajīn, lit. 'meat with dough'.
  2. ↑ Armenian: լահմաջո.[2]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 Bartu, Ayfer (2001). "Rethinking Heritage Politics in a Global Context". In AlSayyad, Nezar (ed.). Hybrid Urbanism: On the Identity Discourse and the Built Environment. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-275-96612-6.
  2. 1 2 3 McKernan, Bethan (27 October 2016). "A 'pizza war' has broken out between Turkey and Armenia". The Independent. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  3. ↑ Alkan, Sena (19 November 2016). "A delicious, fresh experience: try lahmacun". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 16 January 2020. The true origin of lahmacun is a mystery...
  4. ↑ Ghillie Basan (1997). Classic Turkish Cookery. Tauris Parke Books. p. 95. ISBN 1-86064-011-7.
  5. ↑ Allen Webb (2012). Teaching the Literature of Today's Middle East. Routledge. pp. 70–. ISBN 978-1-136-83714-2.
  6. ↑ Sally Butcher (2012). Veggiestan: A Vegetable Lover's Tour of the Middle East. Anova Books. pp. 128–. ISBN 978-1-909108-22-6.[permanent dead link]
  7. ↑ Jeff Hertzberg, M.D.; Zoë François (2011). Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day. St. Martin's Press. pp. 216–218. ISBN 978-1-4299-9050-9.
  8. ↑ Nawal Nasrallah, Delights from the Garden of Eden: A Cookbook and History of the Iraqi Cuisine, Equinox Publishing Ltd, 2018 – a scholarly cookbook and food history that discusses laḥm bi-ʿajīn as a traditional Levantine meat flatbread.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Marks, Gil (1999). The World of Jewish Cooking. New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-684-83559-4.
  10. ↑ Dmitriev, Kirill; Hauser, Julia; Orfali, Bilal (2019-09-24). Insatiable Appetite: Food as Cultural Signifier in the Middle East and Beyond. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-40955-2.
  11. 1 2 3 Carol Helstosky (2008). Pizza: A Global History. London: Reaktion Books. pp. 59–. ISBN 978-1-86189-630-8.
  12. ↑ "'Armenian Pizza' Is the Comfort Food You Didn't Know You Were Missing (Recipe)". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 16 January 2020. No one knows for certain whether lahmacun's roots lie in Armenia, or elsewhere in the Middle East. "The race to find where these ancient foods originated is not fruitful territory," cautioned Naomi Duguid, author of Taste of Persia: A Cook's Travels Through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Kurdistan. After all, meat-enhanced flatbreads are ubiquitous throughout the region...
  13. ↑ "Turkish flatbread lahmacun – just don't call it pizza". South China Morning Post. 4 April 2015.
  14. ↑ Karadsheh, Suzy (2018-10-09). "Easy Lahmacun Recipe (Turkish Pizza)". The Mediterranean Dish. Retrieved 2026-05-17.
  15. ↑ The Routledge Handbook of Mobilities. Routledge. 10 January 2014. ISBN 978-1-317-93412-7. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  16. ↑ "Entry: lahmacun". American Heritage Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Marks, Gil (17 November 2010). Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. HMH. ISBN 978-0-544-18631-6 – via Google Books.
  18. 1 2 3 Khayr al-Din al-Asadi (1981). موسوعة حلب المقارنة [Comparative Encyclopedia of Aleppo] (in Arabic). p. 2624. Retrieved 12 Feb 2026.
  19. ↑ "المطبخ السوري... أتراك يرحبون باللاجئين ويخشون أطعمتهم" [Syrian cuisine... Turks welcome refugees but fear their food]. The New Arab (in Arabic). 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  20. ↑ "طهاة يضيفون مفاهيم جديدة إلى المطبخ الفلسطيني" [Chefs are adding new concepts to Palestinian cuisine.]. Oman Daily (in Arabic). 4 August 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  21. ↑ Nasrallah, Nawal (17 Sep 2014). "In my Iraqi Kitchen: Recipes, History and Culture, by Nawal Nasrallah". In My Iraqi Kitchen. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  22. ↑ Perry, Charles (3 March 2020). Scents and Flavors: A Syrian Cookbook. NYU Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-4798-0083-4. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  23. ↑ Charles Perry (ed. and trans.), Scents and Flavors: A Syrian Cookbook, New York University Press, Library of Arabic Literature, 2017, pp. 200–201. Quote: "Cut up meat small, then spread it on a round piece of dough and bake it in the oven (furn)." NYU Press – Scents and Flavors
  24. ↑ Nawal Nasrallah, Delights from the Garden of Eden: A Cookbook and History of the Iraqi Cuisine, 2nd ed., Equinox Publishing, 2018, pp. 450–451. Quote: "The earliest record of lahm bi ʿajin appears in a 13th-century Aleppine cookbook, Kitāb al-Wusla ilā al-Ḥabīb, where the recipe calls for minced meat to be spread on thin dough and baked in a brick oven." Equinox Publishing – Delights from the Garden of Eden
  25. ↑ Nasrallah, Nawal (2018). Delights from the Garden of Eden: A Cookbook and History of the Iraqi Cuisine. Equinox Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-78179-457-9. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  26. ↑ Samıkıran, Oğuzhan (2014). "Nefs-i Şam Örneğinde Gayrimüslimlerin Nüfûs ve Mesleklerine Dair Bir Araştırma (1674–1700)". Avrasya İncelemeleri Dergisi. 3 (2): 240. Evliya Çelebi Şam'ın yiyeceklerinden bahsederken "…peynirli böreği ve lahm-ı acînli böreği…" ifadelerini kullanır.
  27. ↑ Yentürk, Nejat (2021). "Yufka Ekmeğinden Börek ve Baklavaya Uzanan Yol". Journal of Turkish Studies: 337. Seyahatname'de adı verilen börek çeşitleri arasında lahm-ı acînli börek (Şam) da bulunmaktadır.
  28. ↑ Samıkıran, Oğuzhan (2014). "Nefs-i Şam Örneğinde Gayrimüslimlerin Nüfûs ve Mesleklerine Dair Bir Araştırma (1674-1700)". AVİD, Avrasya İncelemeleri Dergisi. 3 (2): 240. Evliya Çelebi Şam ve çevresinin bazı gıda dallarına mahsus niteliklerinden şöyle bahseder: ...hâs ve beyâz Havrân gılâlından beyâz çakıl ekmeği ve 'Acem çöreği ve peynirli böreği ve lahm-ı 'acînli böreği ve kahkî rû-yu zemînde nazîri yokdur...
  29. ↑ Samıkıran, Oğuzhan (2014). "Nefs-i Şam Örneğinde Gayrimüslimlerin Nüfûs ve Mesleklerine Dair Bir Araştırma (1674-1700)". AVİD, Avrasya İncelemeleri Dergisi. 3 (2): 240. ... lahm-ı 'acînli böreği ... Evliya Çelebi, Seyâhatnâme, c. V, s. 106a.
  30. ↑ Yentürk, Nejat (2021). "Yufka Ekmeğinden Börek ve Baklavaya Uzanan Yol". Journal of Turkish Studies / Türklük Bilgisi Araştırmaları. 56: 337. lahm-ı acînli börek (Şam)
  31. ↑ Çelebi, Evliya (1 September 2023). Günümüz Türkçesiyle Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesi 7.Kitap 2. Cilt; Almanya-Çerkezistan-Dağıstan-Kırım-Macaristan- Romanya-Rusya-Slovakya-Tataristan-Ukranya- Viyana (Yeditepe Yayınevi) (in Turkish). Yeditepe Yayınevi. p. 68. ISBN 978-625-6777-69-9. Retrieved 31 July 2026. değil ki insan attan düşüp kurtula. O at da, insanoğlu da atların ayakları altlarında pelte, macun ve lahmacun gibi olur, Allah saklasın.
  32. ↑ Berggren, Jakob (1844). Guide français-arabe vulgaire des voyageurs dt des francs en Syrie et en Égypte: avec carte physique et géographique de la Ssyrie et plan géométrique de Jérusalem ancien et moderne, comme supplément aux voyages en orient [A French-Arabic guide for travelers and Franks in Syria and Egypt: with a physical and geographical map of Syria and a geometric plan of ancient and modern Jerusalem, as a supplement to travels in the Orient] (in Arabic and French). Leffler et Sebell. p. 263. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  33. ↑ Sarkis, Khalil (1885). كتاب تذكرة الخواتين واستاذ الطباخين (in Arabic). المطبعة الادبية. p. 468. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
  34. ↑ Bartu, Ayfer Suna (1997). Reading the Past: The Politics of Cultural Heritage in Contemporary Istanbul. University of California, Berkeley. p. 149. We became a nation of lahmacun eaters. Fifty years ago no one in Istanbul knew what lahmacun was – or if we did, we called it pizza.
  35. ↑ Cite error: The named reference Hybrid3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  36. 1 2 Bal, Reyyan (2026). "Cultural Hybridity on a Plate: Food, Identity and Conflict Resolution in Barış Manço's "Lahburger"". Nesir: Journal of Literary Studies (10): 73.
  37. ↑ Bartu, Ayfer Suna (1997). Reading the Past: The Politics of Cultural Heritage in Contemporary Istanbul. University of California, Berkeley. p. 149.
  38. ↑ "Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2237". EUR-Lex. 29 October 2025.
  39. ↑ "TRT World - Türkiye's famed Gaziantep lahmacun gets EU geographical indication registration". TRT World. November 5, 2025. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  40. ↑ "'Antep Lahmacunu / Gaziantep Lahmacunu'". eur-lex.europa.eu. 2025. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  41. ↑ Petrosian, Irina; Underwood, David (2006). Armenian Food: Fact, Fiction & Folklore. p. 16. ISBN 9781411698659.
  42. ↑ Addison, Bill (17 July 2025). "Hot cheese breads and meat pies are only the start at L.A.'s best new Armenian restaurant". Los Angeles Times. repatriated Armenians in the 1960s returning from the Syrian city of Aleppo as the ones who introduced the dish to Yerevan.
  43. ↑ Deinyan, Marianna; Aridzanjan, Anna (2023). Yerevan: Die armenische Küche. Riva. p. 16. ISBN 9783742324757. Schnell erweiterten Gerichte der ursprünglich westarmenischen Küche, zum Beispiel »Lahmajo«, die Esskultur Sowjetarmeniens.
  44. ↑ Kanegarian, Ella (4 July 2021). "Interrupted Flavors: Thoughts on Armenian Cuisine". EVN Report. It was referred to as an "akhpar meal" by locals and treated as something foreign from their own cuisine.
  45. ↑ Sabbağ, Çiğdem. "MARDİN YEME İÇME KÜLTÜRÜ" (PDF). ADIYAMAN ÜNİVERSİTESİ. p. 299. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
  46. ↑ "اللحم بعجين.. فطائر تمتاز بها محافظة الموصل العراقية" [Lahm bi ajeen... pastries that are a specialty of Mosul province in Iraq]. Al Jazeera (in Arabic). 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
  47. ↑ Sturm, Melvin (2024-04-18). "3 Turkse pizza-recepten (+ alles wat je moet weten over dit comfortfood)". Culy (in Netherlands Dutch). Retrieved 2025-10-16.
  48. 1 2 Mahir, Hasan (3 March 2008). Geziantep: Gaziantep gezi notları (in Turkish). p. 148.
  49. ↑ "Halep işi lahmacun tarifi". Hurriyet (in Turkish). 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  50. ↑ "طريقة عمل حلوى عش البلبل" [How to make oush al-bulbul dessert]. Al-Ain News (in Arabic). 22 January 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
  51. ↑ "طريقة عمل عش البلبل باللحمة.. وصفات حلبية على أصولها" [How to make "Bird's Nest" with meat... Authentic Aleppo recipes]. Cairo24 (in Arabic). 20 April 2025. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
  52. ↑ "Lahmacun Kimin?". kapsamhaber.com/ (in Turkish). Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  53. ↑ "Kim Kardashian faces Turkish backlash after calling lahmacun 'Armenian pizza'". 27 March 2020.
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