In Tehran in 2020, a traditional flatbread bakery could be found not only by its smell but by a queue spilling onto the pavement. Barbari, lavash, sangak and taftoon accompanied meals throughout the day and customers wanted them as they emerged from the oven. One baker said Ramadan brought long lines in which many people failed to observe pandemic distancing rules.
Traditional bread was difficult to reproduce at home, so customers who experimented during isolation soon returned. This line was not simply a shortage queue. The pace of a baker working one sheet at a time, the preference for bread while still hot, and its place at every meal created the order outside.