In Mexico it's a tortilla. In Ethiopia it's injera. It's naan in India and matzoh in Israel.

By whatever name you call it, flatbread is everywhere. And in the United States, it is a quickly rising part of the nearly $14 billion bread industry that is crowding shelves from Wal-Mart to Whole Foods. (Even in the Islands, behind the curve on many trends, pre-baked pizza crusts, wraps in varying sizes and flavors, lavosh and pita breads of various types are now standard in most markets, with more ideas on the way.)

Not bad for a product that can count its age in centuries.

"It's a 2,000-year-old recipe," says Mike Stimola, president of Sandella's Flatbread, a cafe founded in 1994 in West Redding, Conn., that now has 125 locations. "It's the original bread."

It wasn't long ago that flatbreads were few in markets. Today, dozens of varieties compete with flavorings such as sun-dried tomato, different grains and shapes, even low-carb options.

In fact, flatbread has become so popular that new product launches in the U.S. went from 12 in 2005 to 51 in 2006, says Joanna Peot, spokeswoman for Chicago-based market research firm Mintel International Group.

Cookbook author Naomi Duguid isn't surprised.

When she co-authored "Flatbreads & Flavors" in 1995, flatbread was still seen as something "a bit marginal" and ethnic, she says. But as chefs began to put flatbread in their bread baskets, it became far more common. (Consider how many restaurants now serve lavosh; The Kahala Hotel's installation of an Indian-style tandoor oven a few years ago so they could make naan and such; the parathas at India Bazaar Madras Curry or the dosas at India Cafe — introduced within just the last decade or so. Not to mention Asian rice-paper wraps and won ton pi.)

"Now you can go into any grocery store and there's going to be a whole group of breads you could call flatbread," she says. "We've moved from the conception that bread has to be a loaf."

Healthy eating trends explain most of the growth, says Peot. And unlikely as it may seem, fast-food chains have helped, with wraps and other flatbread sandwiches appearing on numerous menus at places like Quiznos, Arby's and McDonald's.

Versatility also helps, says Anissa Helou, a Lebanese baker who recently published a baking cookbook with many flatbread recipes. Americans are discovering that flatbreads work across cultures and eating styles.

"It's all about the usage," says Dan Malovany, editor of Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery magazine. Flatbread makers are finding success marketing a whole menu for "grab-and-go" hungry shoppers, he says.

Flatbread handles a turkey sandwich as easily as a smear of hummus, baba ghanoush or other Middle Eastern spread. It also works for some Hispanic dishes, and even as a base for pizza.

"It's more than a backlash to Atkins," Jim White, a partner in the Concord, Ontario-based FGF Brands, which makes Fabulous Flats Naan, says of the low-carb diet that caused consumers to shun loaf bread.

When FGF began shipping to the U.S. in 2006, it sold naan in about 200 stores. Now it's available in more than 5,000 and is keeping up with orders for more than 1.5 million naan a week.

"Back in the '70s and '80s, the usual ethnic breads available to the masses were bagels or pita," White says. "Today, however, there is huge interest in Indian foods. Anything Indian or Asian is hot."

And at King Arthur Flour Co. in Norwich, Vt., introductory flatbread classes offered to the public became so popular that the company went from holding two a year in 2002 to teaching them every month.

Alisa Rosenbaum is one of the many Americans fueling the flatbread industry growth. She says she realized she was hooked on the stuff when she made pizza with it nearly every day for a week.

"It really gives you options," says Rosenbaum, a 27-year-old economics development consultant from Washington. "It really is like a comfort food, but you can do it in a healthy way."