Winner Breads

Time you knew baguette from pita from focaccia from ciabatta

If only Marie Antoinette, that 18th century French queen, the one who was guil-lotined, yes, the one who wondered why the poor who can8217;t afford bread don8217;t eat cake8230; if only she knew how bread has become cake to-day. You need to go no further than your baker8217;s to find out. That he8217;s, now, probably baking as many types of breads as he is cakes.

Bread8217;s not just plain loaf anymore, it8217;s now about being the life of a meal. Dishy quite by it-self. So, know your breads, because now you can have the most exotic of them, and eat them too. A bagel is a chewy, doughnut shaped bread. Focaccia, a flat Italian bread topped with spices. Also Ital-ian, the ciabatta8217;s a long and flat white bread, with a crispy crust. The baguette is a typical long French roll that you8217;d wish was even longer. Then there8217;s the pita, the Middle Eastern flat bread you couldn8217;t not have tasted already. Sourdough breads with a distinct, sour flavour are an ac-quired taste. And the crisp breads are a must if the pate is to be consumed right.

Sure, it happened because globalisation found its way into the neighbourhood bakery too. But another thing coloured our daily bread into becoming more special and8212;unlike ever before8212;browner than it had ever been. As the anti-carb buzz rang louder and shriller with the popularity of diets like Atkins, South Beach and Zone, bread began to be seen by many as that lump of carb, a word that left a bad taste in the mouth. It was now to be had as little, and in as un-white a form as possible. The exact moment might not make it to mem-ory, but the grocer who stocked only soft-white Britannia and Modern breads ever since mom knew him, now had brown breads on offer. In fact, latest is, he now even shelves brown pao! But many of these pack-aged 8220;brown8221; breads, cautions nutritionist Ishi Khosla, 8220;may claim to be brown bread, but could be white bread coloured by caramelising.8221;

So then, make use of the bread boom. Steer clear of bread made of refined flour, or white bread, if you must. And go shop for wholegrain breads that are now so available, breads made of whole wheat, oatmeal, rye, breads that are multi-cereal. They are more than just tasty, they8217;re healthy. There8217;s even a 8216;Bread for Life Diet8217; by nutritionist Olga Raz that recommends calo-rie watchers eat small, regu-lar meals of these kind of high-fibre breads.

Chefs like Avijit Ghosh of The Gourmet Shop at Delhi8217;s Oberoi Hotel have smelt the preference: 8220;We cater to a health-conscious clientele who love their breads. So, we offer varia-tions like onions, olives and garlic made of whole grains.8221; Meaty idea that.