This popular bread, also known in some regions as somun, is eaten all up and down the eastern side of the Mediterranean (and a long way inland) and is by far the favorite accompaniment for savory meat snacks like cevapcici. The main name for this vaguely pita-like flatbread has many spellings, so we're going to use all of them in this article.

The quality that makes lepinje stand out from other central and eastern European flatbreads is its beautifully tender, spongy, English muffin-like interior, which is due to the dough's three rises, and (optionally, in some recipes) to a small dose of baking powder or baking soda which gives the dough an extra boost when the heat of the oven hits it. This yummy texture makes lepinja the perfect foil for meat snacks like the famous cevapcici. It features in other snacks as well: this YouTube video shows a market stall holder assembling a triple order of lepinja komplet or komplet lepinje with fresh eggs, lard, and kajmak, the local rich, savory unripened cream cheese, before putting them under the grill / broiler. (Warning -- the video's sideways: don't get a crick in your neck watching it.) Unusually for a bread, lepinja komplet has its own Facebook fan page.

Homesick eastern Europeans will usually insist that the lepinje baked in New York or LA can't compare with the ones you would buy on the street from a vendor in Pristina or Belgrade. There's probably a great deal of truth to this, as local flours, yeasts and waters will always contribute significantly to the quality and character of a "small bread" of this kind. Nonetheless, if you're longing for a lepinje, try our recipe and see how it works for you.

Click on "read more" for the full recipe and instructions.