Sfiha

Raw minced meat is spread over thin dough and baked in a stone oven in a few minutes. Aleppo uses two names for it: sfiha and lahm bi ajin, meat with dough. The mix is meat, onion, garlic, tomato and spice, and the two ingredients that mark it out are pomegranate molasses and pine nuts. The oldest written record of the dish appears in a cookbook compiled in Aleppo in the 13th century.

How it differs from lahmacun

They are relatives, not the same plate. The Aleppo mix carries pomegranate molasses, and that sourness is the backbone of the dish; the Turkish version usually leaves it out. Pine nuts are again an Aleppo signature. The heat comes from Aleppo pepper rather than crushed chilli, so it arrives slowly instead of sharply. You notice it late. The dough differs too. Gaziantep and Urfa roll it wider and paper thin; Aleppo keeps it smaller and a little thicker. Even the eating differs: lahmacun is rolled around parsley and lemon, sfiha is usually eaten flat, held in the hand.

Where to eat it

At neighbourhood bakeries. It comes out on trays, is ordered by the piece and is eaten standing in front of the oven. The freshest run is from early morning to midday; in the afternoon what is left gets reheated and the dough stiffens. Two or three pieces make a meal for one, because they are small.

What goes with it

Ayran or plain tea. Mint, pickled green chilli and lemon are standard. Some people eat it with yoghurt; in Aleppo that is a preference, not a rule.

How to order it

The same counter usually carries cheese and za’atar versions. Say lahm for the meat one. If you are asked about heat, mild is a safe answer. This is food to eat the moment it leaves the oven — taken away in a bag it becomes a different thing entirely.