On Appreciating: Bread

So, for anyone that's been around me for any length of time over the past few years, knows that I have this unique love for bread. It goes beyond craving for carbohydrates and starches, but to simply put it, I love bread, and I want to share that love and appreciation with you.

To most people, bread is something pretty simple, kind of a base for all the good stuff. Well, I feel that on its own, bread can be appreciated like other foods, such as pasta, rice dishes, stir-fry, etc... Here we go!

I'm sure many of you have seen the movie Ratatouille there's a line in the movie that says something like, "You tell good bread by its sound." Which to some extent is true. I'll get into that later though. So, how to pick out good bread... Well, there are various aspects of bread that needs to be considered before we can determine which one will suit our needs. So the main aspects I like to consider in a loaf would be the following three: texture, density, and flavor.

Let's break down each category now. Texture, this includes both the crust and what I'll call the meat of the bread, how if feels both in the mouth and to the touch. Good bread will feel crisp, but not crusty, soft, but not mushy. When you pick up a piece of bread, it should feel substantial, but it should be delicate enough that you need a serrated bread knife to cut it, lest it become mashed flat. French breads have the danger of falling under two categories that make it not as appreciable as other breads, they can either be very crusty; in which the crust is extraordinarily hard and dry, near to the point of lacerating your mouth, or the bread can be very elastic; where the bread is very difficult to break apart because of how tough the "meat" of the bread is. Personally, I prefer italian type breads.

Density, it's basically how compact the bread is or how much air there is inside of it. Generally speaking, sweet breads, such as cornbread or pumpernickel are usually denser than what I'll call salty ones, such as sourdough or italian. So in this sense it's a matter of preference, I've had breads that have been denser that I thoroughly enjoy. Usually, they will go well with butter, honey, or molassass, something sweet. The key though, in denser breads is making sure they have enough substance, additionally you want it to retain a certain amount of moisture so that it is not crumbly, it should be like a really firm cake. On the other hand, breads that have a little more air, such as sourdough, italian, como, etc... you want a little air, but you don't want it to be too airy, like the pre-sliced Wonderbread type stuff. The interior should be chewy, but not tough, and works well as an absorbant. There should be a greater distinction between crust and "meat" and these types of bread are well accented by basalmic mixes, soups, or in sandwiches if you toast them.

Flavor, there's a lot of leeway in this, so you can kind of do what you like. I prefer my breads a little more simple, sourdough is actually very nice, it's subtle enough that you taste a little bit of the sourness, but it is complemented well by anything you have with it. Denser breads I usually prefer with more flavor, some honey or molassass, it's hard to go through bland pumpernickel just because it feels like there's so much of it per bite.

These are what I feel are some of the key things to look out for in enjoying good bread, I feel one of the greatest and underappreciated parts of a meal.