You know who likes these? My son Isaac. He doesn’t like a lot of different flavors, but he gobbled these up and asked for more. As you might recall, I bought some Machica a few weeks ago, in my super bodega travels. Machica is a toasted barley flour, and mine is from Ecuador. I did a bit of research into recipes that call for toasted barley flour. I read about some rolls served in an ecuadorian restaurant, which sounded intriguing. But most of the recipes I came across were actually Tibetan, for a sesame-crusted flatbread that sounded delicious! This is my vague interpretation of that idea. Baked toasted barley has a lovely flavor – slightly sweet, distinctive but subtle. I have to be honest, and tell you that my flatbread became crisp bread, because I left it in the oven to keep warm after it was fully cooked, and it cooked further till it was more cracker-y than bread-y. Tasty, though! I could almost pretend that I’d done it on purpose. The other thing I might say, is that my sesame seeds (I used black, because I had them and they looked nice, but you could use white as well) fell off and, somehow, I got them all over my kitchen. If I were to make this again (which I will!) I’d knead them right into the dough. Yes I would.

Here’s Freddie Hubbard with Open Sesame.

1 cup toasted barley flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups white wheat flour
1 t salt
3 T olive oil
1 t yeast
2 t sugar (I used raw sugar)
about 1 1/3 cups warm water
1/4 cup sesame seeds
Olive oil for baking.

Combine the yeast, sugar and 1/3 cups warm water in a small bowl, and leave aside to get foamy.

Meanwhile, combine the flours and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the olive oil and the yeast mixture. Add enough warm water to make a smooth dough.

Toast the sesame seeds in a small frying pan for a few minutes till they smell good.

Work the sesame seeds into the dough, and then knead the dough for about 7 minutes, till smooth and elastic.

Leave it in a warm place for 2 hours, till roughly doubled in bulk. Punch it down and leave it to sit for about another half an hour.

Break into 4 pieces. Roll each into an oval or circle about 1/4 inch thick. Brush both sides with olive oil, and put it on a baking tray.

Preheat the oven to 450.

When hot, put the baking trays in the oven. Cook for 10 or 15 minutes on each side, till it forms little brown spots. Take the breads out of the oven and leave till cool enough to handle.