• Bread, the most famous cultural ambassador of peoples, is a special food, a fundamental component of the cuisine of every country. The way it is prepared and the complementary ingredients used reflect the climate, the region, but also the culture and beliefs of a people.
From wheat, rye, sorghum, rice or millet flour, with yeast or natural yeast, with oil or butter, eggs, milk or just water, with potatoes, seeds or olives, airy or dense, raised or thin as a sheet, baked directly on the hearth, on a hot stone or in trays, bread takes pride of place on people's tables, from one end of the earth to the other. There are hundreds of breads in the world, with different textures, garlic, shapes and sizes. The particularities of each type of bread result, first of all, from the choice of ingredients. In addition to components, traditions, passion or recipes, an essential element is the skill and technique of the baker. It is not for nothing, for example, that the best baguettes are produced in France or the tastiest "Foccacia" in Italy, despite the fact that the recipes have been borrowed beyond the borders of these countries.
Italian Foccacia and Ciabatta
Region and climate play an important role in how bread is prepared. In southern Europe we discover olive oil, which is used in many Mediterranean countries to make soft and aromatic breads. The assortments of Italian bread are a delight, along with pasta, fish, meat and cheese. Italy is the birthplace of the traditional Foccacia and Ciabatta breads. Ciabatta is an oval or elongated bread, quite flat, with the appearance of a slipper (ciabatta in translation means homemade slipper). It is an assortment of bread made by the "sponge" method, namely flour, yeast and water are fermented for 24 hours before being incorporated into the dough. Another characteristic is the soft consistency of the dough, highly hydrated, with a content of 75% water and oil, which differentiates it from other types of bread, but also makes it difficult to process at home. The long kneading process contributes to the unique sweet-sour flavor and texture with a crispy shell and airy core. Ciabatta can be plain, with olives, sundried tomatoes, cheese or nuts. Foccacia is a type of bread that is very similar in appearance, texture and even taste to pizza. Some sources claim that the original recipe was devised in Ancient Rome, while others say it originated with the ancient Greeks. Today, Foccacia is associated with Liguria, a region in northern Italy. Foccacia is prepared with olive oil, salt and some aromatic herbs, such as rosemary, sage, garlic, basil or thyme. In some variants, Foccacia can also be enriched with tomatoes, olives, onions, cheese, parmesan or mushrooms.
French baguette
When you say France, you think of the hundreds of "boulangeries" that offer the traditional baguette in the morning, fresh, with a crispy crust and a fluffy core. The French baguette, although it seems like a libertine bread like Paris, is actually a product that must follow strict rules. A baguette has a diameter of 5-6 cm, a length of 60 or 100 cm and a weight of 200 or 250 g. It is made daily and must not contain additives. Fine French flour plays an important role in the fluffy, light, wheat-flavored core, and the small amount of yeast along with a long kneading and leavening contribute to the flavor and texture of a baguette. Most of the time, French artisans replace the yeast with preferences, "poolish" or "biga", for a special texture.
"Pumpernickel", the most sought-after bread of the Germans
In northern European countries, but also in Russia, it is customary for bread to contain rye flour. In Germany, "Pumpernickel" is the best-tasting bread of the "Kastenbrot" bread assortment, which translates as bread in a box. It is a bread baked in long, narrow trays closed like boxes for 16 to 24 hours in steam ovens at a low temperature (about 120°C). This dark chocolate or coffee colored bread contains 100% coarsely ground rye grains, water, salt, yeast or mayo, and may also contain malt or molasses for flavor. These breads have a very dense core, an unmistakable bitter taste, with an earthy aroma. Swedes consume more bread with barley seeds, rye or malt, but also the famous Swedish bread made from rye and wheat flour, without mayo. This variety of bread comes in the form of very fine, very soft and sweet loaves, ideal for sandwiches.
The country with the most types of bread in the world
Germany is the country with the largest variety of bread in the world, as its inhabitants boast. More than 400 types of basic bread and 1.000 types of buns, bagels and pastries are made daily. In fact, Germany is among the top consumers of bread in the world, per capita.
Greek pita
Greek pita is made from classic dough, kneaded with olive oil, similar to pizza, but slightly softer. It is baked on a hot stove, just like our flatbreads or peasant cakes are made. When they are ready and nicely browned, so warm, they are flavored with olive oil and oregano. Pita is used in gyros, but Greeks also serve it in grilled meat dishes such as souvlaki, sheftalia, suvla, or in tzatzichi and hummus.
Arabic script
The traditional Arabic script is called "khubz" and is found in the Arabian Peninsula, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan. It is used to wrap shaorma, but also with falafel, hummus, bulgur or tabouleh. Legend has it that when Adam was cast out of Paradise, he wandered through the Arabian desert for forty days. Finally, he reached an oasis where he had an abundance of fruits and vegetables. One evening, with a large serving of hummus in front of him, Adam was thinking bitterly about how lonely and unhappy he was, and a tear rolled down his cheek and fell on an ant. The ant took pity on him and prayed to God to give Adam a source of joy. At that moment, out of nowhere, a few leech appeared in front of Adam, and from then on he ate hummus with leech for the rest of his days.
"Matlou", "amtunt" or "M'semmen", in North Africa
In the northern part of Africa, the Maghreb region, i.e. Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, but also Egypt, and part of Libya and Mauritania, wheat semolina is the main ingredient used to make bread. Locals add olive oil to the composition to obtain flat or slightly raised breads, in the form of pies. The most famous varieties of bread here are "matlou", a round, well-raised bread, "amtunt", sourdough bread, or "M'semmen", flat bread, traditional in Morocco. Bread recipes used in this part of the world differ greatly from country to country. The populations of Sub-Saharan Africa have invented many kinds of bread produced from local raw materials such as cassava, millet, corn, plantains or sweet potatoes.
What Asian bread looks like
Contrary to the preconceived notions that as long as the people of Asia eat rice and noodles they don't need bread, Asians eat bread every day. There is an assortment of millet bread that is especially consumed in Japan, where it is used for sandwiches or fried. In India and neighboring countries, the famous "naan" flat bread, made of wheat flour and without mayo, is widely eaten. The most famous version of it is "naan" with cheese, but it can be prepared with aromatic herbs or onions as well. In these regions there is also Chapati, the daily bread of the Indian. It's a no-yeast, no-baking powder batter made from just wholemeal flour, water and salt, like a pancake.
"Tortillas", the bread of Latin America
The inhabitants of Central America have been eating "tortillas", a kind of flat cakes made of corn flour, for hundreds of years. They can be eaten as such, replacing classic bread, or they can be integrated into other dishes such as tacos. Also here, the bread called "pan dulce" is at a high price, a dish that comes with regular bread, but also with sweet muffins.
"Milcao", the potato-based bread from Chile
In South America, colonial heritage and Indian traditions mix: residents of big cities go wild for European bread, but people in the provinces prefer rustic varieties of bread. Thus, in Chile, the traditional bread is "milcao", based on potatoes, while in Bolivian markets there are plenty of marraquetas, sarnitas, empanadas, bollos, sopaipillas, colizas or cunapés.
The famous "Pain Poilâne"
Paris has many famous bakeries, but only one is so famous that on menus in cafes and restaurants it is mentioned that the sandwiches are made with "pain Poilâne". The Poilâne bakery only has two locations in Paris and one in London, but the products can also be purchased online, and many customers receive their bread via FedEx, precisely from France. What is so special about this round and heavy bread, almost 2 kg, whose thick crust is inscribed with the letter P? First of all, the traditional production technique: fermentation is done slowly, overnight, only with lees. The shaping is manual, and the bread is baked in a wood oven. With a history of over 70 years, this bread is created by a single family, the baker Lionel Poilâne. The famous painter Salvador Dali ordered an entire bedroom made of bread from Poilâne. Frank Sinatra would ask for Poilâne bread wherever he was in the world, and Gerard Depardieu and Isabelle Adjani were often seen queuing outside the Poilâne bakery.
The pretzel, a "string" of bread
Pretzels with salt, sesame or poppy from Romania were mentioned by the American publication "Business Insider" on a list of the tastiest dishes to be served "on the run" in 28 European countries.
The story of the pretzel begins somewhere around the year 600. There has been and still is much debate about its origin. Some say that we owe one of the most beloved pastries to the Germans today, others give the Italians all the credit. However, the pretzel was the emblem of German bakers and later of their guilds in southern Germany and retained this honor for several centuries.
Who invented the bagel?
An answer can be found in the work "History of Science and Technology", written by Bryan Bunch and Alexander Hellemans. According to them, pretzels were invented in the year 610 by an Italian monk, being used as a reward for children who learned the prayers. The little rolls of dough were not even "Pretiola", which means "little reward". Other authors locate the appearance of pretzels in a monastery in the south of France. The pretzel may also have links to the Greek ring-shaped bread, a variant of the bread used in monastery services nearly 1.000 years ago. The encyclopedia "Meyers Konversations-Lexikon" from 1905 writes that the appearance of the pretzel was a result of the prohibition of pagan baking traditions, such as the shape of the Sun Cross, at the Council of Estinnes in 743.
The pretzel would thus have appeared as a substitute. Made according to a simple recipe, using flour and water, the pretzels could be eaten during fasting.
The secret of the bagel is the hole
What defines the bagel? There is no coca, relatively common in bakery products, nor salt, poppy seeds or sesame. The hole is the secret. A pretzel is defined by the hollow in its middle. A pretzel without a hole would be a simple bun. Bagel curls were probably invented to serve a practical purpose. For example, they could be hung on sticks, and such a custom can be seen in a painting by the painter Job Berckheyde dated around 1681 (photo).
Every German city has its own recipe
Pretzels are most widespread in Germany, Alsace, Austria and in Switzerland (regions where the German language is spoken). Almost every German city has its own recipe and way of making pretzels. That is why the pretzel also has many names in these regions: Brezn, Bretzel, Brezzl, Brezgen, Bretzga, Bretzet, Bretschl, Kringel, Silserli and Sülzerl. The Spanish, French and Italians call it something like that, i.e., "pretzel", "bretzel" or "brezel".
Bagels with curls are known all over the world
In the Czech Republic, the pretzel is known as "preclik" and in Slovakia "praclik". The Norwegians and Danes call it "kringle", the Poles "precel", in Hungarian and Croatian it is called "perec", and in Serbian it is called "pereca". Lithuanians have two names for pretzels: riestainiai or baronkos (this being their Slavic name). The Finnish pretzel is called Vesirinkeli. This kind of pretzels are first boiled in salted water and then baked. They are mostly eaten for breakfast, with butter, and can be found in most supermarkets. Also in Finland there is "viipurinrinkeli", a sweet pretzel spiced with cardamom and nutmeg said to have been invented in the Franciscan monastery in the town of Vyborg.
Bublik, the Russian pretzel
The Russian saying "big is better and fat is prettier" also applies to pretzels. Bublik are pretzels with a big hole in the middle, but with a soft and sweet interior. They are glazed with egg yolk. The most popular form of bublik is sprinkled with poppy seeds. Most of the time, bublik pretzels are served with a cup of tea.
Turks have been making pretzels since 1525
Turkey's standard pretzel is called simit and is sprinkled with sesame seeds. According to some historical sources, the existence of Turkish pretzels was officially attested for the first time in Istanbul in 1525.
Buzău pretzels, the first in Romania
In Romania, the first pretzels appeared around 1800, when Bulgarians, Serbs and Greeks settled in the Buzău market. Greek innkeepers discover a combination that is profitable for them and appreciated by the customers: for drinks they serve a dough product, in the shape of a ring, with a golden and crispy skin and a soft core with a strong aroma of white wheat flour. The product was called "kovrig", it was cheap and easy to prepare so, in a short time, the recipe spread, and pretzels began to be in demand not only in pubs, but also in fairs, bakeries and grocers. Since January 2007, the Buzău pretzel has become a registered trademark, as a European product.
The American publication "Business Insider" compiled in 2017 a list of the tastiest dishes to be served "on the run" from 28 European countries, and Romania stood out, along with countries such as France, Germany and Belgium, with pretzels with salt, sesame or poppy
Article made by Redaccia Arta Albă
