Saj loaf: All-women church group bakes bread for charity using recipe passed down the generations

Just before dawn on a morning at the end of each month, a group of Lebanese-Australian women gather at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lebanon in the Western Sydney suburb of Harris Park to prepare Saj bread with a know-how passed down through the generations.

At the end of each month, Lebanese-Australian women bake Saj bread to fundraise for charity. Source: Supplied

Key points:

An all-women group gathers at the end of each month at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lebanon to make Saj bread and keep this heritage alive
The metal griddle or 'sheet' used to bake the bread is a sacred item
Saj bread is known in most Arab countries but under different names

It's said that the delicious aroma of freshly baked Saj bread has the power to instantly transport older Lebanese-Australians back to a time when, as children, they learned the recipe from mothers and grandmothers.

At the end of each month, a group of women gather in Western Sydney to make the bread using a special metal baking tray known as a 'sheet'.

One woman told SBS Arabic24: "It returns us to the homeland and the village, the smell of firewood and the grandmother who used to wake up in the early hours of dawn to start the baking process from kneading to parchment and waving the dough and then putting it on the 'Karah' (tool for placing the dough) to end up on the sheet (baking tray)."

Source: Supplied

From Lebanon to Sydney, the Saj loaf is a living history that these women who meet at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lebanon are keeping alive.

One woman said the bread they make, which is sold to raise money for charities, was a heritage taught to her by her mother when she was aged just six.

Source: Supplied

Another woman added: “We were children who woke up at 4am to help our parents in the baking process, which was an occasion for the whole family to meet and cooperate with each other.”

Indeed, the metal sheet was so precious that it was carefully placed among these women's most precious belongings as they made the migration journey from Lebanon to Australia.

The 'sheet' has a kind of sanctity to it and is treated as a valuable item that helps in the production of the Saj loaf seen as a gift from God, another woman explained.

Source: Supplied

Although the work may be tiring, the women say they turn their fatigue into energy by reciting prayers and singing as they prepare the loaves.

Most of these women say they do not only bake bread in church, but also have Saj in their homes which they bake for the families and teach their daughters the recipe to ensure it stays alive throughout the generations to come.

Source: Supplied

Indeed, among the bakers was a woman and her daughter, who was born in Australia, who learned the art of the baking sheet and mastered it.

The history of Saj bread

There are many names for Saj bread, but its origin is the same. Known also as 'kamaj', 'sharak' and 'marqq', the loaf emerged during the Ottoman Empire in Islamic countries. It was then known by its Turkish name of 'Saj Ekme', meaning 'bread paper' due to the thinness of the rolled-out bread.

Saj bread Source: Supplied

The flour was first baked with water, then thinned and twisted into a large round shape that could reach a meter in diameter. It was then placed on a circular metal tray, the 'sheet', under which firewood was burned until the loaf was cooked, a matter of just a few minutes.

Saj bread in the Arab countries

Saj bread is not limited to Lebanon, but extends to other Arab countries such as Syria and Palestine, where it is called 'Farshouha'. Today, it is served as fast food on which thyme, cheese or pepper molasses is placed.

Source: Supplied

In Iraq, it is called 'tortillas' bread, which is very similar to Saj and prepared in the same way.

In Jordan, it is called 'shrak' and is used in a very popular dish, 'mansaf', where it is placed under rice, as well as in 'rashouf', as it is soaked with milk. Some Bedouins in Jordan still bake it on a daily basis.

Saj bread is also widespread in Sinai and the Negev. The famous Bedouin dish consists mainly of Saj bread and lamb broth with the addition of a little milk.

Today, the traditional firewood has been replaced by gas or electric ovens and kneading and parchment machines ease the physical strain of preparing the dough.

However the loaf is made though, it still smells like home and is a thousand-year-old tradition which continues to this day.

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