Khobz Mzouweq (خبز مزوق)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide mixing bowl
• •Baking stone or heavy oven tray
• •Sharp knife or clean razor for scoring
• •Pastry brush

Instructions

1. 1

   Wake the yeast

   Stir the yeast with the sugar and half the warm water, then leave it for 10 minutes until the surface looks creamy and alive. Sourcing comes before technique: if the yeast does nothing here, don't ask the dough to rise later.

2. 2

   Mix the dough

   In a wide bowl, mix the flour, semolina, salt, toasted sesame, and crushed anise. Add the egg, oil or butter, orange-flower water, the yeast mixture, and enough remaining warm water to make a soft dough that holds together without sticking heavily to your fingers.

3. 3

   Knead until supple

   Knead for 10 to 12 minutes by hand, pushing the dough away and folding it back until it turns smooth, elastic, and lightly fragrant. The anise should meet you before the orange flower does. If the dough feels tight, wet your hand and knead that moisture in, a little at a time.

   Do not pour in extra water all at once. Flour changes with the weather, and the dough teaches you as you work it.
4. 4

   First rise

   Shape the dough into a ball, set it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover it, and let it rise 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until it has doubled and feels airy under your palm. This first rise gives the crumb its tenderness; rush it and the loaf eats heavy.

5. 5

   Shape the loaves

   Turn the dough out gently and divide it in two. Shape each piece into a smooth round loaf, about 3 cm thick, and set them on semolina-dusted trays. Cover and rest 35 to 45 minutes, until the dough has puffed but still holds its roundness.

6. 6

   Heat the oven

   Heat the oven to 230C with a baking stone or heavy tray inside if you have one. In the ferran, the baker reads the heat by hand and by habit; at home, give the oven a full 30 minutes so the base is truly hot before the bread goes in.

7. 7

   Decorate and glaze

   Brush the loaves with the egg yolk and milk, then score shallow patterns with a sharp knife or clean razor: diamonds, leaves, radiating lines, whatever your hand can keep even. Sprinkle with sesame. The cuts are not decoration after the fact, they guide how the crust opens in the oven.

8. 8

   Bake until gold

   Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, lowering the oven to 210C after the first 10 minutes if the tops color too quickly. The loaves are ready when the crust is deep gold, the scoring has opened cleanly, and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.

9. 9

   Cool and share

   Let the loaves cool on a rack for at least 20 minutes before tearing or slicing. The crumb finishes settling as it rests. Bring it to the table whole if you can, because khobz mzouweq should arrive like an announcement: there is room for one more.

Chef Tips

• •Use flour with good strength and yeast that proves itself before it meets the dough. No gesture rescues tired flour or dead yeast.
• •Crush the anise lightly, don't grind it to dust. You want little bursts of perfume in the crumb.
• •Orange-flower water should smell clean and floral, not sharp like perfume. If yours is aggressive, use a little less.
• •Moroccan bread is not one generic flatbread. This is Rabati festive khobz, an oven bread, decorated and enriched for celebration.

Advance Preparation

• •Toast the sesame and crush the anise up to 2 days ahead, then keep them covered.
• •The loaves are loveliest the day they are baked. If needed, bake them in the morning and warm them briefly before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 490g)