Kaak is a native dish of the province of Balochistan of Pakistan and Kermanshah & Baluchestan of Iran. Popular among the nomadicBalochis, Kaak is very hard once it has been baked. Hence, it is also sometimes called "Pathar ki Roti"
Preparation
The dough for the bread is prepared with a mixture of Flour, dry yeast, sugar, salt, milk, water and other ingredients based on the variation. The dough is then flattened and rolled over a preheated stone. Sometimes sesame seeds are added as a complement too. The stone is then baked in a tannur until the bread is fully cooked. Although the dough starts out thin and limp, it expands and hardens greatly during the baking process. Kaak is often served with Sajji. In Iran and Pakistan, the oven in which the kaak is usually cooked is made of finely hewn stone mined from the local quarry, otherwise known as the kaak block.
Traditions
In Baloch tradition, the matriarch of the home has the most say in how the kaak is prepared. Once the bread rises the responsibilities of the task are handed over to the younger women of the household to finish the job. It is also customary among the Balochi people, that the father of the bride feeds his daughter kaak the night before her wedding.
Festivities
During the summer seasons, a popular baker's festival is held in the town of Mahore called Khabaz Mahrajan Magiz. The festival highlights the best bakers from across the entire Pakistan, thus drawing very large crowds into the tens of thousands. It is customary at this festival to have an annual Kaak competition, in which all the bakers submit their goods to a panel of judges. The winners of this competition, which include gold, silver, and bronze medalists, have the privilege to showcase their finest kaak at the grand opening ceremony for the festival the following year.
In other Cultures
In Arab countries, the same word refers to thin savory pastry bracelets, often flavored with aniseed or covered with sesame seeds. Kaak bi Loz is a sweet version made with ground almonds.
