BREADS

In almost every country around the world bread is a staple food. There are different types of breads
available around the world, like tortillas, chapattis, baguettes, ciabatta, or pita to name a few. Some
breads are soft or crumbly or crispy and come in different shapes and sizes. Here we will go through the
different breads that are famous and loved by all!
Grissini: These are best known as bread sticks. These breads are cooked until completely dry, so that
they are basically all crust and no crumbs. Grissini are better when made by using olive oil.
Sfilatino: This bread is a very popular addition to the dinner table. It is made with olive oil and makes an
excellent accompaniment to Italian foodl. It is very similar to French baguette but is smaller in size and
also does not have any slashes on top. The crust is crispier, darker and is less flaky. It has a soft crumb.
Rosquilha: This is a very attractive looking, ring-shaped white bread. Due to its shape this bread has a
pleasant crust, slight chewy texture and salty flavour. The shelf life of this bread is not too long hence has
to be consumed when it is fresh.
Pugliese:This bread was once upon a time the regional bread of Puglia. Like many Italian breads this
bread is also enriched with olive oil and is considered to be among the jewels of Italian breads. This bread
is popular all around the country and beyond.
Focaccia: An Italian dimpled flat bread similar to pizza base. It is traditionally oiled and baked in a wood
fired oven. Focaccia toppings are generally quite simple. Perhaps the most common one is sliced fresh
tomatoes, thinly sliced prosciutto and shredded arugula. Other common toppings include straight
prosciutto, just tomatoes, or tomatoes and thinly sliced mozzarella. Olive oil is served at the table so the
diner can drizzle some to taste.
Panettone: This rich sweet bread is sold around Christmas as a traditional festive cake. Pannettone is
made with liberal amounts of butter, eggs and milk, together with sultanas, mixed peel and sometimes
chocolate, yet it has a light and airy texture.
Chapattis: These unleavened breads are popular all over India especially in north and central India. They
are served at most of meals. Chapattis are made with very fine whole-wheat flour and are flat.
Paranthas: These are richer and flakier chapattis. Parantha dough is rolled out into a chapatti and then
brushed with fat and folded and further rolled and cooked on a griddle. This gives the flakiness! Some
paranthas are also stuffed with assorted fillings. Very popular paranthas made in India are aloo parantha,
mooli parantha, laccha parantha, methi parantha.
Naan: Unlike the chapatti, naan is leavened bread, which is made by using yogurt. This is what gives the
bread its characteristic light and puffy texture and soft crust as well. This bread is cooked in a tandoor -
the clay oven! Naan can be made plain or flavoured , a popular choice being lasooni naan.
Roomali Roti: Roomal meaning handkerchief, hence a bread which is as thin as a handkerchief. Made
by beating the rolled out dough on hands in circular motion and baked on an upturned wok-like griddle. A
skilful art worth watching!
Pita Bread: Pita bread or pide are best known as Turkish and Greek breads. This bread is baked in such a
way that it contains a pocket. It is famous throughout the Middle East. It is made with wheat flour and is
leavened with yeast. It is baked in an extremely hot oven for a short period of time thus making the bread
flat and creating a pocket. They are had with dips like hummus, tahini etc. or are also had stuffed like pita
with falafel etc.
Khoubiz: It is similar to pita bread. Khoubiz simply means bread in Arabic. It is a flat round bread which
is lightly leavened and baked in rounds larger than pita breads.
Barbari: They are sometimes called Persian flat breads. They are originally from Iran. They have more
crumbs than pita and are mostly flavoured with caraway and cumin seeds. This light, crusty bread is a
breakfast favorite in Iran, served topped with crumbled white cheese and sprinkled with fresh herbs.
Lavash: A soft, thin flatbread made with wheat, flour, water, yeast, and salt. It is the flattest of all the
Middle Eastern breads and can be either leavened or unleavened. It is an excellent accompaniment to
shish kebab and can be had with dips as well.
Kastenbrots: These are small box type breads and the name translates as box breads. The bread is
steamed baked in an enclosed tin for 20 hours due to which it turns out to be dense, moist and chewy
which has a crumbly texture. It has a slight sour flavour with a sweet and malty overtone. The best-

known varieties are pumpernickel, which is the darkest rye bread.
Weisenkeimbrot: This means wheat germ bread and is made using the wheat germ along with rye meal.
Krustenbrots: This is a very popular square German bread. It is a crusty bread. It is often known as
German rye but, unlike other rye breads, it has a pleasant, gentle flavour as rye and wheat flours are
used in combination.
Stollen: The shape of this bread is said to represent infant Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes. This
bread is packed with sultanas and mixed peel and is usually spiced. It is enriched with eggs, butter and
milk. Finely chopped almonds are added to the dough or almond paste is rolled into the dough giving it a
moist center.
White bread: White bread is made with flour milled from the inner part of the wheat grain after the husk
has been removed. It also contains water and yeast along with various additives, preservatives and
emulsifiers. The flour is often bleached.
Brown bread: Brown bread is made from wheat flour with some of the bran removed. Its colour comes
not only from the brown part of the wheat grain but also from added colouring such as caramel.
Granary bread: Granary bread (also known as whole wheat) is made with either wholegrain flour or
white flour with bran and wheat germ added.
Wheatgerm bread: Wheat germ bread is made from brown or white flour to which at least 10 %
processed wheatgerm has been added.
High fibre bread: High fibre white bread is made with white flour with added fibre from non-wheat
sources such as rice bran or Soya hulls.
Bagel: Is a east European and Jewish roll with a hole, boiled and then baked from proven yeast, often
sprinkled with caraway and poppy seeds. Normally made with white flour but whole wheat, rye and onion
flavoured versions are also available.
Brioche: Is a light, yeast leavened roll or loaf originating in France, somewhere between cake and bread
in texture and taste. Made with white flour and enriched with butter and eggs, making it higher in fat,
protein and calories than almost all other breads.
Chapatti: Is a Indian flat disc of bread which can be leavened or unleavened. Normally made with
wholemeal wheat flour, it is a source of protein, fibre, iron, magnesium and thiamin.
Ciabetta: Also known as olive bread, this Italian bread is made from white or brown flour bound with
olive oil. It is chewy and often flavoured with herbs- added to dough or sprinkled on the crust before
baking.
Croissant: Croissant is the French word for crescent. A rich, flaky breakfast roll shaped as a crescent with
a crisp texture on the outside, while it is flaky and layered in the soft buttery center.
Foccacia: Italian yeast dough bread, similar to pizza, usually baked as a large disc and flavoured with
olive oil, coarse salt, herbs and garlic.
Fruit breads: Are usually made from malted or white bread dough to which some sugar and raisins and
other dried fruit or rind has been added.
Matzo: A traditional Jewish unleavened bread similar to cracker. Made with wheat flour and water and
sometimes salt.
Muffin: A traditional British round leavened roll with a mildly sour flavour and chewy crust. White and
wholemeal versions are available, as well as cheese, chocolate and fruit varieties.
Naan: A flat tear dropped shaped yeast leavened bread from India, baked in a tandoor (clay oven).
Pitta: Is a Middle Eastern flat bread that is sometimes split to form a pocket into which a variety of fillings
are placed. White and wholemeal versions are available.
Rye breads: Are popular in the Scandinavian countries, Germany and Russia, these are made with rye
flour or with a higher proportion of rye flour mixed with wheat flour and are slightly sour. The low gluten
in rye flour makes the bread heavier and denser.
Tortilla: Of Mexican origin, these round, unleavened breads are made by mixing corn or wheat flour with
salt and water and baking the flattened dough on a hot griddle.