Ablo (rice-based steamed bread)
Soft, lightly tangy steamed cereal bread documented across Benin and Togo. This page gives one measured rice-flour research method; maize-based Ablo and mixed-grain versions remain distinct traditions.
Modern adaptation
Tamees-style flatbread
A home-oven interpretation of Saudi tamees, dimpled and topped with sesame and nigella.
A home interpretation
Tamees is a bread served in Saudi Arabia, often with fava beans. This home-oven version is Amale Chamseddine's interpretation; she notes she had not tasted Saudi bakery tamees when developing it.
Sources for this section
Bakery bread and its accompaniments
Saudipedia describes tamees at breakfast and dinner tables in Saudi Arabia, often with foul, a fava-bean dish. For some households it also belongs on the Ramadan iftar table. Its account associates the bread's spread within Saudi Arabia with Makkah's pilgrims, visitors and trade, without supplying a dated first attestation.
The bakery account differs from this home method. Bakers flatten dough balls and perforate them with a toothed tool before using a specialised oven. Toppings and thickness vary: plain, ghee, cheese and seed-topped forms are described. The finger dimples and two oven-rack positions below remain Chamseddine's adaptation, rather than a claim to reproduce that equipment.
Sources for this section
A western Saudi association
Saudipedia's survey of baked goods places tamees particularly in Makkah and Madinah, including Ramadan and Eid occasions, and describes a stone tannour. This supports a regional association within Saudi Arabia; it does not establish that every tamees baker uses the same dough or that the home oven produces identical heat exposure.
Amale Chamseddine explicitly developed this recipe without having tasted Saudi bakery tamees. Her white-and-whole-wheat blend, butter and oil, three portions and sesame-nigella topping are retained as one approximation. They should not be read as a historical specification or evidence for a precise birthplace.
Sources for this section
History
Tamees is documented in Saudi Arabia; the first attestation is not established.
Ingredients
Yield 3 flatbreads · Scaling: source batch only
Water
473 mL2 cup as recorded
LukewarmInstant yeast
15 mL1 tbsp as recorded
Sugar
15 mL1 tbsp as recorded
White bread flour
769 mL3¼ cup as recorded
Whole wheat flour
237 mL1 cup as recorded
Butter
30 mL2 tbsp as recorded
Neutral oil
30 mL2 tbsp as recorded
Plus oil for brushingSalt
9.9 mL2 tsp as recorded
Sesame seeds
Amount not stated
For topping; amount unspecifiedNigella seeds
Amount not stated
For topping; amount unspecifiedMethod
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Contains wheat, milk and sesame.
Do not taste raw dough; raw flour can contain harmful germs. Wash hands and surfaces after handling it.
Use oven protection when moving the hot tray.
- Mix lukewarm water, yeast and sugar; leave for 5 minutes.
- Add both flours, butter, oil and salt. Knead by hand or mixer for about 5 minutes, continuing if the dough tears easily when stretched.
- Cover and leave to rise for at least 2 hours. Divide into three pieces, form balls and rest for 10 minutes.
- Roll each ball into a round or elongated flatbread. Place on a dark baking pan or steel sheet, brush with oil and scatter sesame and nigella seeds. Dimple with your fingers.
- Heat the oven to 475°F (about 246°C). Bake on the lowest rack for 8 minutes, then move to the highest rack for about 5 minutes or until golden.
Conditions
Yield3 flatbreads
Places
Saudi Arabia
Documented preparation · Country evidenceSaudipedia documents tamees across Saudi Arabia; the cited home recipe is an interpretation, not a bakery specimen.
Related
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Sources
Habibi, What's Cooking?Inspiration · Method
Saudi Tameez BreadThree-medium-bread home formula and two-rack baking method; the author describes it as an approximation.
Cited in: A home interpretation; Bakery bread and its accompaniments; A western Saudi association
SaudipediaContext · Geography
TameesSaudi breakfast use, dimpled bakery breads and varieties.
Cited in: A home interpretation; Bakery bread and its accompaniments
SaudipediaContext
Traditional Baked Goods in Saudi ArabiaTamees associated with Makkah and Madinah, Ramadan and Eid; perforated dough baked in a stone tannour and served with beans or lentils.
Cited in: A western Saudi association
Wikimedia Commons / SajetpaImage reference
Tamees (1).JPGIndividually checked file-level CC BY-SA 3.0; not PD/CC0 and excluded from qualifying references. Generic Commons metadata CC0 does not license the photograph.