Understanding the Kinds of Bread

Understanding the Kinds of Bread

There are several types of bread, each also having its own special features and characteristics. Bread can be eaten in different ways. People around the world prefer certain types of bread, depending on their basic needs and personal preferences. Understanding the qualities of each will help you learn how to prepare them better and with less problems.

The Different Types
Bread is a popular food in many societies. Every Asian society prefers steamed bread or noodles or rice. Bread is usually made using wheat-flour dough cultured with yeast, risen and baked inside an oven. Owing to the high levels of gluten, common wheat is the most basic grain used to prepare bread, although bread is also created from flour of other existing wheat species like emmer, durum, spelt, maize, rye, oats and barley. Common wheat is usually made for creating white bread. Other types of wheat are capable of creating black bread of good quality. Spelt bread is widely consumed in European countries. Emmer bread is a staple food in the Middle East. Canadian bread is known for its healthy consistency and high protein content.

Knowing the Breads
White bread is created from flour that only has the center part of the grain, called the endosperm. Brown bread is created using 10% bran and endosperm. It can also mean white bread with coloring added like caramel to provide a brown color. This is also known as wheat bread. Wheat germ bread has provided wheat germ for more flavor. Wholemeal bread has the entire wheat grain or the bran and the endosperm. It is also known whole grain or whole wheat bread, especially in North America.

More Bread
Wholegrain bread is similar to wholemeal bread or to white bread with whole grains added to boost fiber content. Roti is described as whole wheat bread consumed in South Asia. Another Roti variant is called Naan. Granary bread is created from granary flour. It is created using brown flour or malted white flour, whole grains and wheat germ. Unleavened bread does not have yeast and does not rise. Rye bread is created with flour using rye grain of different levels. It has higher fiber content compared to other bread types.

Quick breads are chemically leavened breads, usually having both baking powder and baking soda, plus a balance of alkaline ingredients and acidic ingredients. Some of the examples include muffins, pancakes, waffles and Boston brown bread.

Among Cultures
There are so many variations of bread such as chapattis, pitas, biscuits, naan, bagels, tortillas, brioche, baguettes, puris, lavash and pretzels. Tortillas are staple food in Mexico. There is also the pan dulce and bolillo which are commonly eaten by Mexicans during breakfast. In the Philippines, peple eat pan de sal which is rounded bread. In Spain, bread is referred to as pan. In Peru, sweet bread is eaten together with hot chocolate and butter.

Scottish people eat plain bread which is taller and thinner. The French eat pan bread used for toast or for making stuffing. Italians have several breadmaking recipes and usually eat large loaves and breadrolls.

Happy baking,
Renee