The joy of baking at the Syrian bakery

CAIRO – 2 July 2017: Amongst the meandering streets in the heart of the 7th district of 6 October City the popular outing area remains fairly quite during the day hours. The outdoor tables of the shisha cafes and eateries are in relaxed mode before and it gets ultra busy in the evening when waiting for a fresh and flavored meal can take up to an hour.


The bakery starts the production at 5 o’clock in the morning – Monika Sleszynska
While the pace is slow for the outing space during the day hours it is not so at the nearby bakery. Set in a side street, hidden from the heart of the outdoor tables’, stands a temple of baking decorated with the white flour dust, gently sizzling flat circles of dough moving between the pans at the speed of almost an eye blink. The team of several is joyfully busy at the bakery of renowned Syrian pan bread.


Pan baking will continue till close to midnight – Monika Sleszynska
Each person fulfills assigned function with a smile allowing for a smooth production and a view that would want one to jump into the process at the memory of the happy childhood baking. The dough circles move smoothly between the pans and hands of the young baking Syrian and Sudanese males. The baking process runs smoothly starting from 5 o’clock in the morning and continues till 11 p.m. at night.


The secrete to the thin flat round shape is in the special pan – Monika Sleszynska
No surprise to the busyness as five to eight thousand packs of bread leave the bakery daily. The bread is used for wraps with chicken shawarma, falafel, dips, herbs and any filling one can creatively add. The secret to achieving the thin round shape is in the special pans and the method of spreading the dough. The Syrian pan bread is distributed and available to buy in packs of 20 meticulously folded pieces.


Syrian baking team smoothly continues the fast baking process – Monika Sleszynska


Each team member fulfills assigned task with joy – Monika Sleszynska


The round breads are meticulously folded and packed – Monika Sleszynska