Fabulous Baker Boys

Bread seems to be the main staple in the Arabic diet. It comes in all shapes and sizes; puffy, thin, really thin, really really thing, crunchy, soft, round, with sesame, and with wheat. But there is one thing that is always the same about the bread; it’s baked by men.

And – those men love to show off their bread. The moment I even came close to a bakery with my camera I was consistently invited inside. Not just inside….but to the deep, dark back rooms where the bread is given birth. The first few times it happened I was surprised, but at some point I kind of started expecting it.

The behind the scene tours varied, but I would always get them without fail. I was welcomed enthusiastically in the store, asked where I was from and then welcomed again. In Jordan, expect to be welcomed multiple times…they kill you with kindness. One of the men who probably knew the most English would then motion for me to come with him and I would follow him through a doorway to some sort of dark room or separate building in an alley. There I would walk in and startle the men working away, covered in flour; I was the last person they were expecting to see in their bakery.

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