During Ramadan in Bahrain, many households want warm traditional bread on the table for iftar, the meal after sunset. In 2019, the Bahraini newspaper Al Bilad described customers standing in rows outside traditional bakeries, each waiting a turn to buy hot tannour bread.
The busiest period ran from after the afternoon Asr prayer until only minutes before the Maghrib call marking sunset. Tannour bread, baked by hand against the wall of a hot oven, is also used in thareed, a local dish in which bread absorbs a meat-and-vegetable broth. Because each batch takes the baker's labour and customers want it home in time for iftar, many household schedules converge in the line outside.
Waiting for the same bread each year becomes more than an errand. The smell of a fresh batch, the approaching sunset and the bag handed to the person ahead turn the queue into a few shared minutes on the way to separate family tables.