Bread makes the world go round
From baguettes in France to pitas in Mediterranean countries, bread has been a staple food around the world for centuries. Breads are distinct in their ingredients - some are made with corn and others with wheat - as well as their shapes - bakers poke holes in Italian focaccia, giving it dimples, and French baguettes are often scored at an angle. Here’s what bread culture looks like in three countries.
Japan
The first bread known to be made by a Japanese for Japanese was prepared by Egawa Hidetatsu in 1842. In charge of the Tokugawa Shogunate’s coastal defenses around Tokyo Bay, Hidetatsu baked hard bread as provisions for soldiers—and also constructed an early reverberatory furnace in Izunokuni, Shizuoka Prefecture, which is now a World Heritage Site. Bread became more commonly eaten as Japan underwent rapid industrialisation during the Meiji Period (1868-1912), but it still didn’t catch on among the locals. However, in 1874, Yasubei Kimura created anpan, buns stuffed with red bean paste called an or anko which was well-received. The continual success of Kimura’s bakery, Kimuraya Sohonten — which still stands today — is due to anpan’s popularity. A boom in bread confections followed. Since then, bread has increasingly been a part of the Japanese national diet, enjoying particular popularity in the Kansai area. You can find at least one bread shop, or panya-san, in any big train station across the country, and you’ll even find them tucked into back alleys and the corners of sleepy towns. Yakisoba pan: it’s literally just yakisoba (fried soba) stuffed in a bun, Yakisoba isn’t the first kind of unlikely ingredient paired with bread, and it certainly won’t be the last. You can also find menchi katsu pan (minced meat cutlet bread) and korokke pan (croquette bread), not to mention the classic katsu sando (cutlet sandwich). Add Japanese curry, which is sweeter and milder than the Indian or Nepalese varieties, and you have a fried curry bun, thus creating a new taste sensation and earning a place in Japan’s bread pantheon.
France
Breads are such an important part of the French culture that during the French Revolution, the average Frenchman was reported to have eaten three pounds of bread a day. If bread supplies ran short, or the quality was bad, riots resulted. To avoid the possibility of another revolution, the state has since ensured that modern Parisians have no lack of a fresh baguette; city bakers now have strictly regulated summer holidays and are forbidden to leave the capital en masse. Baguette: A long thin, white loaf with a golden crust. It is raised with commerical yeast and has large holes and an open crumb. This light style of bread is best eaten the day it is bought. Ficelle: Using the same ingredients and methods as the baguette, Ficelle is even thinner and sometimes shorter. Pain de campagne: Translating as “country bread”, this is a large round or rectangular bread usually made with a mixture of white flour and wholemeal or rye flour. It can be made with natural leavening or commerical yeast. Pain au levain: Made with natural leavening, this is rustic and flavoursome sourdough. Fougasse: Typically associated with Provence, this flatbread is France’s version of the focaccia. The dough is often slashed so it looks like an ear of wheat, and is usually dotted with ingredients such as olives or cheese. Pain aux noix: Studded with one of France’s favourite ingredients - walnuts - this bread is delicious with cheese.
Mexico
When 16th century Spanish conquistadors brought wheat to the New World during their conquest of the Aztec empire, it was to create the sacramental bread necessary for Holy Communion. Both Iberians and indigenous people found the taste of the grains initially disagreeable until bakers began improving their techniques and enhancing breads with native ingredients like maiz (corn), piloncillo (unrefined brown sugar), and chocolate. During the nineteenth century, French nationals began immigrating to Mexico, bringing with them more European baking techniques and recipes. The union of all these cultures resulted in baked goods that have become a huge part of Mexican tradition and everyday life. By the 19th century, hundreds of pastelerías (pastry shops) and panaderías (bakeries) had opened across Mexico. Today, street vendors can still be seen selling bread from baskets and off bikes, and panaderías buzz with regulars purchasing savoury rolls and pan dulce (sweet yeasted breads) which come in countless shapes, sizes and flavours. Historically, these breads are dipped into coffee or drinking chocolate and enjoyed as breakfast or a late afternoon meal called merienda; the latter is sometimes enjoyed in lieu of a larger dinner. For everyday eating, the following three types of rolls are the ones you’ll find throughout Mexico. Bolillo: an eight-inch, white roll is crusty on the outside and boasts soft insides. It’s split and topped with refried beans, melted cheese, and salsa to make molletes, and it’s often used to make tortas or sandwiches. For sauces such as mole poblano which requires a thickener, stale bread is often called for in the recipe, and bolillos have a neutral flavour that makes them ideal for this purpose. “You can soak a bolillo in an atole or fill it with a hot tamale. It doesn’t need to be grilled because it’s crispy when it comes out of the oven,” says Tamara Chavez Lopez, head chef of TONO Cevicheria. Cemita: A specialty of Puebla now found across Mexico, this five-inch, round, egg-washed bread topped with sesame seeds is similar to brioche, only drier. In most parts of the country it is just another bread, but in the city of its origin the fluffy roll is beloved as the foundation for the cemita poblana, a sandwich of meat and cheese topped with avocado, onions, chipotles en escabeche, and the pungent herb called papalo. Telera: Popular in Mexico City, the crust of this ridged, seven-inch roll is softer than that of bolillos, but inside it’s firm and dense. A sturdy vessel, it’s the bread of choice for making tortas.