I was visiting the wonderful Brockley Market today, and as usual I gravitated quickly to Mike and Ollie‘s delicious flatbreads. The reason I am posting is that my friend Ren then posted about Ottoman spices on her blog, which are at the heart of Mike’s cooking. So I am posting the basis of Mike’s flatbread recipes here for your enjoyment. I have tried this recipe with slow-cooked pork and lamb, and it is terrific with both.

Basic ingredients

• Pork (2.5kg roughly)
• Handful of fennel seeds
• Salt
• Black pepper
• A good lug of vinegar (100ml)
• 200ml liquid in order of preference: cider, white wine, stock, water
• 2-3 onions

Optional

• Thyme leaves
• Aniseeds
• A whole peeled garlic bulb

Cooking the pork

• Right, you have 2.5kg of pork shoulder. Get a frying pan hot and preheat your oven to about 170 degC or gas mark 3.
• Start by seasoning your meat generously with salt and give it a good rub into flesh. Add a little oil (sunflower or vegetable, not olive) and sear all over to form a nice golden crust.
• Grind a handful of fennel seeds (if you wanted, you could add some ground aniseeds and/or thyme leaves or any other middle-Eastern spices), to this add a few healthy pinches of cracked black pepper and massage into your pig. If you wanted to, you could push a few whole garlic cloves into crevices within the pork’s flesh to add extra flavour.
• Now, chop 2-3 onions and scatter over a suitable baking dish, then place the pork on top.  Pour in a good glug of white wine vinegar and 200ml of liquid, just to create a little steam and keep things moist, this could be white wine, cider, stock or water
• Cover the dish with foil and cook in the middle of your oven for 3-4 hours, check for tenderness. Remove foil, then bake for a further hour.
• Remove and pull as you see fit!

Flatbreads (makes 4-6)

• 450g white flour preferably organic
• 300ml warm water
• 1/2 tsp dried yeast
• 3/4 tsp salt

Optional extras for dressing the flatbreads

• 15ml orange blossom water
• 30ml olive oil
• Za’atar

Combine all ingredients minus the za’atar and work into a dough. Knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic, the dough should not be too firm, if it is, add more water. Leave in a warm place to double in size (1 hour plus). Get a griddle pan smoking hot. Divide the dough into 4-6 pieces and roll out as thinly as possible.

Pour a small amount of oil on each, rub all over with your hand and sprinkle over za’atar. Place oil side up into the pan and wait for bubbles to form all over surface (about 1-2 minutes) then flip. 2 minutes more and you should have beautiful flatbread.

To serve…

Spread a good layer of houmous on the flatbread, and top with salad leaves, toasted seeds, chopped red cabbage and dried chilli flakes. Next comes a generous serving of your delicious pork. Finally, add something sweet such as figs, apple or apple sauce, and top with yoghurt or creme fraiche.

Fold as a burrito, i.e. fold over the bottom and then wrap both sides over to form an open-topped parcel. Mike has thoughtfully provided a step-by-step photo guide to his brilliant creation.

If you get it right, then it should look something like the lamb wrap I had for lunch today. Yum yum!