Ammoura Oven: Most Ancient Folkloric Oven in Tartous

mmoura oven in Tartous is the most ancient folkloric oven which still works on wood as it has maintained its shape and its ancient tools for more than 97 years Ovens in the past used to be a meeting point for the inhabitants of the neighborhood who benefited from them in cooking traditional dishes where the odorous smell of the burnt wood mixed with the smell of the delicious bread. Hassan Ammoura, 55 years, stands near the flames of the wood in his oven and bakes tirelessly in summer and winter, and his experience in making bread has endowed his job with a wide fame. Ammoura says "I inherited this career from my father and my grandfather since 1914 and we are still working at the same oven which is considered the most ancient oven in Tartous in particular as it still uses a semi- primitive way in baking and it provides the same services." "We collect wood from the neighboring forests to get ready for baking 300 kg of bread per a day, and we chose certain types of wood such as the laurel, olive, basil and oak to give special flavor to the bread while being cooked due to the aromatic oils which emit from them which makes our bread unique," Ammoura added. The oven is built on black volcanic stones which endure a very high temperature for a long time while the spaces are filled with limestone and the thickness of the wall is about one meter to preserve the temperature inside the oven.