Anywhere you go in the world, a meal is incomplete without bread in some form or
the other. From the universal sandwich loaf to the French bagettes, Mexican tortilla,
Jewish bagels, Indian chappatis and the Lebanese pita, bread is an intrinsic part
of all cultures. Bread is used to make sandwiches, it is an accompaniment with curries
and pastas; you can enjoy it with a hot cup of tea or coffee-there are many ways
to relish your piece of bread. Here are some of the popular kinds of breads that
people around the world store in their bread boxes!
White bread
Easily the most popular and the most easily available bread in the world, white
bread is made from wheat flour and is made into different types of sizes, shapes
and textures. These days, health conscious people are looking at white bread with
some amount of suspicion as it is said to spike insulin levels, which can increase
the body's tendency to build muscle mass or body fat stores, depending on the time
of day it is eaten. More and more people are now opting for its healthier cousin-wholemeal
bread. And the right kind of bread boxes to use.
Wholemeal bread
The healthier alternative to white bread, wholemeal bread as a rule must have 90%
or more wholemeal flour as part of the recipe. Wholemeal bread offers higher concentrations
of minerals and vitamins than white bread because it preserves the bran and germ
of the wheat. Wholemeal bread is a great source of dietary fiber-twice that of white
bread and much more than multigrain bread.
Multigrain bread
Multigrain breads are made from a mixture of grains like wholemeal, rye, corn, barley,
rice millet etc. Multigrain breads can further be modified by blending various grains,
vegetable pieces, nuts, seeds, fruit and spices. Multigrain breads can be light
or heavy. The light ones are more open with very small pieces of grain or oats mixed
throughout the bread. The heavy multigrained breads are small, dense and have a
high grain content and we can preserve them using bread boxes.
Rye bread
Rye bread is a kind of wholemeal bread which is prepared from rye or a mix of rye
and wheat flour. Originally baked in Europe, it is now made in a variety of styles
and shapes all across the world. Dark rye bread is made of a higher proportion of
rye flour and rye meal than light rye and is therefore denser, heavier and has a
stronger flavor.
Fruit bread
Fruit breads are baked using a regular bread recipe which fruit and often sugar
are added. The fruits you will usually find in fruit bread are raisins, currants,
dates, orange peel and dried fruits like apricots. Some festive fruit breads also
have spices like cinnamon and nutmeg added.
Sourdough bread
Sourdough bread has a slightly sour flavor and a somewhat denser texture than regular
bread. Sourdough describes the raising agent used to make this type of bread. Bread
made by the sourdough method is hearty bread with a thick crust that can last up
to a week without spoiling.
Bagel
A bagel is Jewish bread where the dough (with the yeast) is shaped like a ring and
thrown into boiling water before it is put in the oven. This make the crust extremely
chewy. Bagels can be coated with poppy or sesame seeds and can also be flavored.
Bagels are usually about 10 cm in diameter with a hole in the middle. They look
very similar to a doughnut in appearance but the texture is totally different. In
fact they are often called 'cement doughnuts'.
Hearth breads
Hearth breads include the famous French bagettes and Vienna bread which are traditionally
baked directly on the hearth, that is, the brick floor of the oven. Special pans
and baskets used to give loaf varieties a different shape and distinctive appearance.
These use no emulsifiers or preservatives as these are bought on a daily basis for
that day's meal.
Flat breads
These encompass a wide variety of breads from across the world. Flatbreads were
probably the first kind of breads made by humankind. The most basic variety is still
made of a mixture of flour, water and salt kneaded into a soft dough before being
shaped by hand and baked. Wheat is the most commonly used grain although barley,
millet, corn, oats, rice and rye are also used. Flatbreads include chappati and
naan from South Asia, pita from the Middle East, tortilla from Mexico and focaccia
from Italy.
These are only a few of the bread varieties being consumed by people in various
countries around the globe. A lot of families have their own special recipes they
use to bake delectable breads that have a unique character of their own that no
store-bought loaf can match. Whatever your type of bread, make sure you have if
fresh because that's the way it's meant to be!