{{Short description|Cooked dough and stew in Libyan cuisine}} {{Infobox prepared food | name = Bazin | image = Bazin.jpg | caption = Bazin (center) served with a stew and whole hard-boiled eggs. | associated_cuisine = Libyan cuisine | alternate_name = Bazeen | place_of_origin = Libya | region = | course = | served = | main_ingredient = wheat or barley, water and salt | variations = | calories = | other = }} '''Bazin''' ({{langx|ar|البازين}}, pronounced {{IPA|ar|baːˈziːn|}}) alternatively recognized as '''Bazeen''', {{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}, '''Bézine'''<ref>https://tunisie.co/article/8783/gastronomie/cuisine/bezine-bel-kleya-223514</ref> or '''Bazine''' <ref>https://www.tunisienumerique.com/bazine-et-klaya-deux-delices-a-decouvrir-specialite-sfaxienne-pour-laid-el-kebir/</ref> is an unleavened bread in the cuisine of Libya and the cuisine of Tunisia <ref>https://tunisie.co/article/8783/gastronomie/cuisine/bezine-bel-kleya-223514</ref> prepared with barley, water and salt.<ref name="Rozario 2004"/> Bazin is prepared by boiling barley flour or wheat flour in water and then beating it to create a dough using a ''magraf'', which is a unique stick designed for this purpose.<ref name="Davidson Jaine Davidson Saberi 2006"/> The dough may then be placed in a pan and allowed time to harden,<ref name="Long 2015"/> after which it is baked or steamed.{{efn|"... and bazin, made of steamed wheat or barley and a sauce of stewed vegetables and meat."<ref name="Grolier"/>}} The salt contributes to the hardness of the bazin. Bazin may have a paste-like and hardened texture.{{efn|"Bazin is a Libyan speciality - hard, paste-like food made of water, salt and barley and is really not recommended except to the gastronomically hardy."<ref name="Footprint "/>}} It may also be prepared using whole wheat flour, olive oil, honey and/or pepper as ingredients.<ref name="Long 2015"/><ref name="Blady 2000"/>

Bazin in Libya is typically served with a tomato sauce, eggs, potatoes and mutton or camel . This preparation method involves shaping the dough into the shape of a dome, after which it may be served with a tomato-based sauce or meat-and-potato stew poured atop or around it and garnished with hard-boiled eggs.<ref name="Davidson Jaine Davidson Saberi 2006"/><ref name="Long 2015"/> A raw egg may also be placed in the hot soup.<ref name="Long 2015"/> Bazin may also be accompanied with a cooked pumpkin and tomato sauce mixture.{{efn|"Pumpkins (Cucurbita pepo) grown in Libya are widely utilized as cooked vegetable served with tomato sauce with such national starchy dishes as 'KosKos' and 'Bazin'."<ref name="The Libyan Journal of Agriculture 1977"/>}}

When consumed, bazin may be "crumpled and eaten with the fingers."<ref name="Blady 2000"/> It is typically eaten using the right hand, and may be consumed communally.<ref name="Long 2015"/> Bazin has been described as a traditional dish and as a national dish of Libya.<ref name="Long 2015"/><ref name="Blady 2000"/>

==Sauce== Bazin sauce may be prepared by frying mutton (preferably shoulder or leg) with chopped onions, turmeric, salt, chilli powder, helba (fenugreek), sweet paprika, black pepper and tomato paste. Broad beans, lentils and potatoes may also be added. The sauce, eggs, potatoes and meat are arranged around the dough dome. The dish is typically served with lemon and fresh or pickled (imsaiyar) chillies.

==History== The old way of making bazin is to form the dough into palm-size cakes and cook in water in a special copper pot called a qidir. The barley cakes, having become solid, are then broken up in the pot with a large, flat, wooden ladle and mixed to form one large piece. Nowadays, a blender is often used, or the dough is cooked immediately in water like a pudding.

==See also== {{portal|Food|Libya|Tunisia}} * Asida * Fufu * List of African dishes * List of Middle Eastern dishes * List of breads

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== <references> <ref name="Rozario 2004">{{cite book | last=Rozario | first=P. | title=Libya | publisher=Gareth Stevens Pub. | series=Countries of the world | year=2004 | isbn=978-0-8368-3111-5 | url=https://archive.org/details/libyaroza00roza| url-access=registration | page=[https://archive.org/details/libyaroza00roza/page/40 40]}}</ref> <ref name="Footprint ">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hbouAQAAIAAJ&q=%22bazin%22 | title=Tunisia Handbook with Libya | publisher=Footprint Handbooks | date=1997 | access-date=26 March 2016 |author1=McLachlan, Anne |author2=McLachlan, Keith Stanley | pages=438| isbn=9780844248677 }}</ref> <ref name="Davidson Jaine Davidson Saberi 2006">{{cite book | last1=Davidson | first1=A. | last2=Jaine | first2=T. | last3=Davidson | first3=J. | last4=Saberi | first4=H. | title=The Oxford Companion to Food | publisher=OUP Oxford | series=Oxford Companions | year=2006 | isbn=978-0-19-101825-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pZ-1AQAAQBAJ&pg=PT1356 | page=1356}}</ref> <ref name="Blady 2000">{{cite book | last=Blady | first=K. | title=Jewish Communities in Exotic Places | publisher=Jason Aronson, Incorporated | year=2000 | isbn=978-1-4616-2908-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T0g2RsZI1yMC&pg=PA327 | page=327}}</ref> <ref name="Long 2015">{{cite book | last=Long | first=L.M. | title=Ethnic American Food Today: A Cultural Encyclopedia | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-4422-2731-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DBzYCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA376 | page=376}}</ref> <ref name="The Libyan Journal of Agriculture 1977">{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fB9HAAAAYAAJ&q=%22bazin%22 | title=The Libyan Journal of Agriculture | publisher=Faculty of Agriculture, University of Alfateh | work=Volume 4 | date=1977 | access-date=26 March 2016 | pages=199}}</ref> <ref name="Grolier">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZY8Id8eL3sYC&q=%22bazin%22 | title=New Book of Knowledge 1992 | publisher=Grolier | date=1992 | author=Grolier Educational Staff | pages=188| isbn=0717205231}}</ref> </references>

==External links== {{commons category|Bazeen}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090301150623/http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dr_ibrahim_ighneiwa/food.htm#mon1 "37. Bazeen (from Dr. B. Shetewi)"], a recipe from Libyan Cuisine and Recipes * [https://web.archive.org/web/20160305020654/http://www.janzour.com/Bazeen.htm "Bazeen (By: mahmud abudaber)"], a recipe from Janzour.com * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120226153937/http://www.tripolipost.com/articledetail.asp?c=5&i=1386&archive=1 Of “Bazeen” and Local Cuisine, Zainab Al-Arabi"]

Category:Arab breads Category:Libyan cuisine Category:Tunisian cuisine Category:National dishes Category:Unleavened breads Category:Barley-based dishes Category:Middle Eastern cuisine