The importance of a given food to a culture can sometimes be gauged by its name. The whimsically named trifle, for example, is a delicious but ultimately trivial dessert. The flat, round bread known as pita, on the other hand, is a food staple in many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures, as is suggested by the origin of its name: it derives from the Greek word peptos, simply meaning something cooked. The source of peptone was the Greek verb peptein, which not only meant to cook but also to digest; this word inspired the name Pepsi-Cola, a soft drink originally marketed, at the beginning of the twentieth century, as an aid to digestion. (Pepsi-Cola has nothing to do with Pensacola, a city in Florida whose name derives from a Choctaw phrase meaning long-haired people.)
The pita, a diminutive Middle Eastern bread, exhibits a distinctive structure. Despite its yeast-based composition, the pita assumes a flattened and circular form. Notably, it encompasses a unique “pocket” feature, serving as a vessel for delectable fillings.