Traditional baking

In the past, traditional baking included the art of making simidi bread rolls, a delicate and exacting task. Production required high-quality ingredients such as fine white flour and chickpeas, from which a ferment was extracted over about 10 hours. This process gave the rolls their characteristic chickpea aroma. Simidi are often described as 'steamed' bread because they are left to rise in steam-heated cabinets. On the ground floor of the baker's house is a wood-fired oven in which the bread products are baked. Even today, the smell of freshly baked simidi fills the Etar craft street every morning, showing that the tradition endures and that future generations will enjoy their taste and aroma. The original baker's house was built in 1874–1875 and reconstructed at the Etar museum in 1969 using photographs and sketches.