Water Bread (Pliny 18.27)

Culinary historian Cathy Kaufman includes a recipe for Pliny's Water Bread in her book Cooking in Ancient Civilizations [Greenwood Press:Westport CT] 2006 (p. 134-135

“It is not very long since we had a bread introduced from parthia, known as water bread from a method of kneading it, of drawing out the dough by the aid of water, a process which renders it remarkably light and full of holes like a sponge. Some call this 'Parthian bread.' The water, or any mixture of liquids used for mixing flour into dough, is known to bakers as 'liquor.'” (Pliny, Naturalis Historia (Natural History) 18.27)

This chewy, spongy bread results from a high ration of water to flour [high hydration]. It is baked on an inverted wok (metal handles only!) to yield large, flat loaves; if no wok is available, make the breads smaller and bake them on a griddle on top of the stove.

1/2 teaspoon yeast
2 1/2 cups stone-ground all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading and rolling
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup lukewarm water, or as needed
Vegetable or olive oil, as needed.

1. Combine the yeast, flour, and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the center. Combine the honey and the water and slowly stir into the flour mixture to make a dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface for 7 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

2. Deflate the dough and let rest 10 minutes. Divide the dough into six pieces. You will roll the dough in three stages to give the gluten time to relax. Working one at a time, roll each piece on a lightly floured surface into a 6-inch circle. Starting with the first disk (to make sure the gluten has relaxed enough), roll each circle into a disk about 9 inches in diameter; let rest for 10 minutes, then roll out into disks about 12-14 inches in diameter.

3. Heat an inverted wok over a gas flame and oil lightly using an oiled paper towel held with tongs. Drape each disk over the rolling pin and transfer to the hot wok. Do not worry if the dough does not lay flat; let it cook before trying to straighten out any folds. Cook for 30 seconds. Turn with tongs and cook another 30 seconds; turn and cook another 15-20 seconds on the first side. Wrap in towels and keep warm while cooking the remaining breads."

Note found on http://www.foodtimeline.org/:

"One delicacy was known as Parthian bread; it was allowed to swell in water before being baked. It was required to be so light--in contrast to the ordinary bread--it would float on the surface of the water." ---Six Thousand Years of Bread, H.E. Jacobs [Lyons Press:New York] 1997 (p. 77)