Breads across different cultures

There are many variations on the basic recipe of bread, including pizza, chapatis, tortillas, baguettes, brioche, pitas, lavash, biscuits, pretzels, naan, bagels, puris, and many other variations.

· In Mexico bread is called pan (Spanish for bread). Although corn tortillas are the staple bread in most of Mexico, breadrolls in many varieties are an important daily food for city dwellers. Popular breads in Mexico include the bolillo roll and pan dulce. There are many varieties, about 1000. Pan dulce, which is Spanish for "sweet bread", is primarily eaten at breakfast.

· In Peru, pan has many variations due to the diversity of Peruvian cuisine. People usually eat Pan de piso, and Pan serrano. There are also some kind of bread made of potatoes, currently popular in the Andes. Bizcochos are sweet bread usually eaten with some butter and hot chocolate. A dough made with cooked pumpkin or squash, often shaped and fried into doughnuts and served with a sweet fruity dipping sauce, is a traditional favorite.

· In Spain bread is called pan, and there are many varieties, about 315. There is a region called Tierra del Pan (literally translated as "Land of the Bread"), located in the province of Zamora, where economy was in the past joined to this activity.
· In South Asia ( India, Pakistan, Middle East, etc.), Roti or Chapati, types of unleavened flat breads usually made from wholewheat flour and baked on a hot iron griddle called tava, form the mainstay of the peoples' diet. Rotis and Naans are usually served with curry throughout the region. A variant called Makki di roti uses maize flour rather than white flour. Another variant is Puri, a thin flat bread which is fried rather than baked and puffs up while cooked. Paratha is another variation on Roti. Naan ( leavened wholewheat bread ), however, is baked in a Tandoor or clay oven and is rarely prepared at home. White and brown breads are also very common, but not as much as Roti.


· In the Philippines, pandesal (or pan de sal; literally, bread of salt or salt bread) is a rounded bread usually eaten by Filipinos during breakfast.

· Germany prides itself on having the largest variety of breads worldwide. More than 300-500 basic kinds of bread come together with more than 1,000 types of small bread-rolls and pastries. It has been estimated that the basic kinds of bread are so widely varied by more than 16,000 local bakeries that more than 1,000 different breads have been presented at a 2005 Cologne bread show. Germans are worldwide the biggest consumers (per capita) of bread followed by Chile

· Scandinavian and Nordic grains and breads - Pre-historic time (until around 1000 AD) four grain types dominated in the Nordic countries: barley and rye are the oldest; wheat and oats are more recent. During the Iron Age (500 AD – 1050 AD), rye became the most commonly used grain, followed by barley and oats. Scandinavian soldiers in Roman times apparently learned baking techniques when working as mercenaries in the Roman army (200-400 AD). They subsequently took the technique home with them to show that they had been employed in high status work on the continent. Early Christian traditions promoted an interest in bread. Rye was also the most commonly used grain for bread up until the beginning of the 20th Century. Today, older grain types such as emmer and spelt are once against being cultivated and new bread types are being developed from these grains. Culturally, German has influenced most of the bread types in the Nordic countries. However, in the eastern part of Finland, there is a cultural link to Russia and Slavic bread traditions.
· Denmark - In the late 19th Century, Danish bakers in the larger towns created the idea of freshly baked bread in the morning (morgenbrød) in various shapes and with a variety of seasonings, baked from wheat intended for the rising bourgeoisie. Since then, freshly baked bread has been produced in every Danish baker’s shop together with all the other kinds of bread. This decentralised form of baking bread alongside the industrialised production of bread seems to be characteristic of the Danish bread sector. Consumption has to a great extent switched from rye bread to wheat bread.

· Finland and Russia both have dark, sourdough breads made of rye. Traditional Finnish rye bread is disc-shaped, with a hole in the center for easier storing. These breads have a rougher composition and a stronger taste than wheat bread, and can thus be stored for longer periods of time. Some families may still have leaven they use for baking these bread handed down from generation to the next. The bread consists of thinner, multigrain breads, elongated “sekaleipä” mixed-cereal bread. Bread is made from all four of the cereals grown in Finland; wheat, rye, barley and oats, usually ground into various grades. Rye bread can be either light or dark in colour, depending on the type of flour mixture used. A few wheat breads are still made in Finland, although most are simple buns or loafs of sliced or unsliced bread. “Vesirinkeli”, water rings, are small, almost tasteless rings of yeast-leavened wheat bread, which resemble bagels. The potato, although a late introduction to Finland in the early 19th Century, features heavily in food culture and has found its way into many kinds of bread.

· Iceland - With the settlement of the country (around 800-900 AD), grain (barley) was brought to Iceland, cultivated and used for bread and porridge. Grain cultivation is thought to have been abandoned before 1600 due to harsher climatic conditions, and subsequently most grains such as barley and rye were imported. The issue of a lack of grain was overcome in different ways in different parts of the country. In some areas, grain was made to go further using Dulse (Palmaria palmate: IS: söl), Iceland Moss (Cetraria islandica; IS: fjallagrös) or Irish Moss (Chondrus crispus; IS: fjörugrös) in compotes and breads. It was not until the 18th Century that it became common practice to make leavened rye breads. Sour dough was mostly used. Rye breads baked in hot springs are a popular item today, being served for local consumption as well as for tourists. In general, stock fish (IS: harðfiskur) was served as a bread substitute, eaten with butter on the side with almost every meal. Today, it is a popular snack, which has found a new target group within the sports food sector due to its high protein content and favourable amino acid content. Most types of breads available in other Western countries are now also available in Iceland, either baked in Iceland or imported. Everyday bread is mostly made by industrial bakeries or bought at the local bakery. Of the bread types currently available, flatbrauð (flatbread) and laufabrauð (leaf bread) have the longest traditions.

· Norway - Many new types of bread have reached the market in recent years. A high percentage of people reported eating bread types such as spelt, specialty, gourmet, and fibre/bran bread, as well as ciabattas and baguettes, regularly, although very few reported doing so on a daily basis. Norwegian bakers now have competition from abroad. The wholegrain bread from local bakers must give way to huge lorry loads of baguettes and frozen dough offering cheaper products. Flatbread is still a very popular bread type.

· Sweden - During the switch to a modern urban and industrialised society (19th century AD), bread types changed when large industrial bakeries introduced new soft bread, which from the early 1920s was often sweetened (From then on, bread was bought from stores and bakeries, rather than baked at home, as had previously been the case. Regional variations decreased due to the transportation and marketing of bread as a national product. The consumption of bread products of various kinds has increased since the 1990s and wholegrain bread and wheat bread are the most popular. All older bread types still exist alongside the new ones, indicating the much greater variety open to individuals today than has been the case in the past.

· In Britain there is a wide variety of traditional bread, often baked in a rectangular tin.

· In the United States, traditional bread includes cornbreads and various quick breads such as biscuits. Cornbread is made from cornmeal and can differ significantly in taste and texture from region to region. The south generally prefers white cornmeal with little or no wheat flour and sweeteners added. It is traditionally baked in a cast iron skillet and has a crunchy outside, and ideally, a moist inside. The northern region, however, usually prefers yellow cornmeal with sometimes as much as half wheat flour in its composition, as well as sugar, honey, or maple syrup. This results in a softer, sweeter bread than its southern counterpart. Homemade wheat breads are made in a rectangular tin simialar to those in the United Kingdom. Dinner rolls are another popular and traditional bread eaten with the dinner meal. They are made from wheat flour and yeast and shaped into individual rolls. Sourdough biscuits are traditional "cowboy food" in the western States. The San Francisco Bay Area is known for its crusty sourdough. In the South and Midland (chiefly), spoon bread, also called batter bread or egg bread, is made of cornmeal with or without added rice and hominy, and mixed with milk, eggs, shortening and leavening to such a consistency that it must be served from the baking dish with a spoon. Up until the twentieth century (and even later in certain regions), any flour other than cornmeal was considered a luxury. This would explain the variety of conbreads compared to that of wheat breads. Commercially, the most popular bread has been soft-textured, usually made with milk and slightly sweet, with a thin crust; this is the type that is generally sold ready-sliced in packages. It is usually eaten with the crust, but some eaters or preparers may remove the crust due to a personal preference or style of serving, as with finger sandwiches served with afternoon tea. Some of the softest bread including Wonder Bread, is referred to as "balloon bread". Though white "sandwich bread" is the most popular, Americans are trending towards more artisanal breads. Different regions of the country feature certain ethnic bread varieties including the French baguette, the Ashkenazi Jewish bagel, scali (an Italian-style bread made in New England), Native American frybread (a product of hardship, developed during the Indian resettlements of the 19th century), and Jewish rye, a bread commonly associated with delicatessen cuisine.

· Jews have traditionally baked challah, a type of egg bread with a thin, hard crust and a soft, well-leavened center. It is made by wrapping plaits of dough and then lightly baking them in an oven. Challah is sometimes sweetened using honey and sometimes includes raisins. During Passover, unleavened bread in the form of various types of matzo is required due to the Biblical injunction to avoid any form of leaven during this time of year. There is some debate within the Jewish community as to whether dairy products are allowed in kosher bread; some authorities maintain that bread must be strictly pareve to avoid combining meat and dairy in the same meal, while others feel it is acceptable as long as a sign of some sort (usually a different loaf shape, but others are known) is baked into the loaf to distinguish it from pareve bread.

· In Morocco and West North Africa, a round bread which is roughly four inches tall is used to eat most of the Mediterranean's watery cuisine. They also have a thick and chewy fried bread which is smothered in oil before hand. The Rghifa bread is a staple in Morocco's food and consists of several layers of lightly cooked bread.

· In Scotland, another form of bread called plain bread is also consumed. Plain bread loaves are noticeably taller and thinner, with burned crusts at only the top and bottom of the loaf. Plain bread has a much firmer texture than English and American pan bread. Plain Bread is becoming less common as the bread consumed elsewhere in Britain is becoming more popular with consumers.

· In France, pan bread is known as pain de mie and is used only for toast or for making stuffing; standard bread (in the form of baguettes or thicker breads) has a thick crust and often has large bubbles of air inside. It is often baked three times daily and is sold totally unwrapped to keep the crust crisp. Some fancy breads contain walnuts, or are encrusted with poppy seeds.

· Italy sports many different kinds of bread with its wide geographic variety and its long history of political division contributing to the development of widely different breadmaking recipes and traditions. As a rule of thumb, breadrolls are typical of the northern regions while large loaves are typical of the southern regions. Bread often has a small quantity of olive oil, butter or rendered lard mixed into the dough to make it softer and more palatable. Traditional rustic breads include Sfilatino Imbottito (a stuffed bread roll) and Pizza Bianca (a flat white bread).

· Focaccia is quite popular in Italy, and is known in Provence as fougasse or as fouace in parts of southern France, the former name is becoming increasingly common and fougasse can now be bought all over France. It is usually seasoned with olive oil and herbs, and often either topped with cheese or stuffed with meat or vegetables. Focaccia doughs are similar in style and texture to pizza doughs.

· Stottie cake is a thick, flat, round loaf. Stotties are common in the North East of England. Although it is called a cake, it is a type of bread.

· Being the simplest, cheapest and most basic type of food, bread is often referred as a metaphor for "food" in general, in some languages and dialects, such as Greek.

· Christian traditional societies (usually in poor communities), used to respect bread since Jesus symbolised his body with it. The sign of the cross was performed with the knife on the bread's surface, before the loaf was cut. Sometimes it was considered a sin to desecrate bread (e.g., throw it away).

· In China, the traditional bread is Mantou. It is made by steaming or deep frying dough made from either wheat flour or rice. In Northern China, Mantou is often eaten as an alternative staple to rice. Steamed Mantou is similar to western white bread, but since it is not baked, it does not have a brown outer crust. Mantou that have a filling such as meat or vegetables (Char Siu Bao, for example) are called "baozi."

· In Ireland, it is traditionally held that the end of a loaf of bread (the 'heel' or 'hilt' of the loaf) is the best part of the loaf. Other stories and myths surround this piece of the bread in Irish Mythology. Irish soda bread, developed to make the most of the soft wheat grown in Ireland, is unusual for a European bread in that it is a quick bread, using the reaction of buttermilk and baking soda rather than yeast to rise.

· There are different types of traditional 'cheese breads' in many countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Italy and Russia.