In Italian, we use the English word cracker. The singular and plural forms are identical1.
Another month without tragic tales of disaster to tell: does it mean that I am getting better at handling the challenges? It it probably too early to tell.
I liked this month's challenge as it asked us to make something I had been wanting to try for a while, i.e., crackers. And I like that the recipe was light, more in the style of a flatbreads than of crackers I am familiar with. Once again, I read the recipe, followed it, and things worked out fine. The result of my efforts was highly appreciated. It was appreciated so much that a crunching noise became the soundtrack of the house. A second batch produced the same result. And the third followed suit. Hence, if a constant crunching does not irritate you, I recommend you give this recipe a try.
First of all, many thanks to the this month's hosts, Natalie of Gluten A Go Go and Shel of Musings From the Fishbowl. They left us free to top the crackers however we liked. And they asked us to create an accompaniment (dip, spread, relish or salsa) for them that was vegan and gluten free (vegano e senza glutine).
For my decoration, I simply opened the cupboard where my spices are jumbled together (disorder there reigns supreme) and let my hands go wherever they wanted. They chose semi di sesamo (sesame seeds), semi di papavero (poppy seeds), paprica (paprika), cumino (cumin), sale marino con tè verde matcha (matcha salt), zucchero non raffinato e cannella (unrefined sugar and cinnamon).
To go with the Lavash crackers, I made a batch of plum spread using agave nectar instead of honey (which I have been using to make my fruit spread local, but is not vegan). I don't call it plum jam, because the proportion of sweetener to fruit I use is about 1 to 10. For some reason, I don't feel comfortable about using pectin, so I just let my fruit spread simmer longer. The beautiful color comes from deep purple prugne I got at our farmers' market.
I hope you will take the time to go around and look at the gorgeous creations of my talented fellow Daring Bakers.
1However, on Italian cracker packages one can often find crackers printed.
Hear me pronounce the words on the Lavash cracker audio file [mp3] or go to the Lavash cracker audio page for more listening options.
