The Saharan regions of Morocco are home to the Berbers, an ethnic group native to North Africa. Madfouna—a stuffed flatbread prepared by using a handful of staple ingredients—is traditionally baked in a fire pit in the sand or a mud oven, and has long served as a wholesome meal for many Berber families. Once baked, the bread so closely resembles a pizza that it is locally nicknamed "the Berber pizza." Using an ancient Saharan bread recipe incorporating flour, yeast, salt, olive oil, and water, the dough is kneaded and then rolled into a round shape before being stretched over fillings—including beef, eggs, nuts, onions, and garlic, and herbs and spices such as cumin, paprika, turmeric, ginger, and parsley—and pinched closed. Every family has their own version of madfouna. Some use more basic ingredients such as eggs, tomatoes, and sunflower or poppy seeds, while others add almonds, cashews, olives, lamb, chicken, minced beef, or slices of cooked steak. The options are virtually endless. Whichever ingredients make up the filling, one thing is agreed upon across the region: the authentic methods of cooking madfouna in desert sands or using a mud oven undoubtedly lead to the most delicious version, complete with an unrivalled smoky taste that a modern, conventional oven cannot replicate. Today, madfouna can mostly be found in small Berber pizza takeaway joints in Rissani, a sleepy Saharan town famed for the dish. In Rissani, a slightly faster pace of life than in the desert leads to a greater demand for fast food. Tucked within the narrow streets of the market and conveniently placed near the taxi stands lie small takeaway joints with "pizza" symbols to mark where you can order a takeaway madfouna, the primary dish on the menu. It’s not uncommon for these places to get so busy that people queue for more than an hour as the chefs rotate the orders in the large fire ovens. Each madfouna is so particular to each individual’s tastes that locals often bring their own fillings—sourced from trusted butchers or prepared at home by family members—which they ask the chefs to bake into their orders.