The Bread Blog or a Blog Roll?

Apparently I need a camera. It seems that many pictures are what makes a blog popular, especially if the images are of things you like to eat- some oatmeal, a cup of fruit or dessert in various stages of being eaten. It's supposedly even better if these things are healthy. Of course I can't leave out bread in what's considered the best in the blogging world. Bead seems to be a big hit. People get all excited about it. It's not quite the same as chocolate, which can cause people to become more than a little obsessed, but lately all things doughy seem to generate extreme interest. Therefore, the following is a toast (get it?? toast?) to bread.

I found the funniest blog post the other day in a blog called Bread for the Boys. Actually it's the title that's funny, not the actual post. The post is called The Yeasty Boys. I know it's not horribly exciting, but I found the name cute. Plus, the recipe and photos are nice. I've become intrigued with bread after making fun of people who post a slew of images of rolls and slices of bread and toast in their blogs. Of curse, these are generally the same people who think that everyone is interested in seeing the same bowl of yogurt, fruit and cereal that was in the last 20 posts. It's always a thrill when the bowl is tilted at a slightly different angle, or the author uses raspberries instead of blueberries. That's a thrill. It's possible that my story about pulling bread innards out of my Ciabatta rolls wasn't a highlight of this blog, so I'm on a mission to do bread some justice, while testing the theory that pictures of bread make a blog popular. Still, I'm challenging myself to write a post about bread that will be more interesting (hopefully) than posting a ton of images like this:

Bread

         It's not gourmet magazine, but it seems to generate an incredible amount of interest.


When I was in France, my mom and I had some fabulous bread. It's not uncommon to see people in the evenings on their way home from work, carrying a fine baguette with the end missing. The end is my favorite part. I think I have already explained that I'm all about the crust. Being from France, my mother often brought home french goodies from a local gourmet shop. It was natural that I grew up consuming baguettes instead of Wonder Bread. In addition to my quest to find LeNotre in Paris, a shop that carries some of the best chocolates in the world, my mom and I were determined to find the world famous Poilane bakery. After giving up on LeNotre after several days of not being able to find it, we stumbled upon it in the antique district. The chocolates were, indeed, phenomenal - by far some of the best I have ever eaten. Eventually we found Poilane's Bakery too. I remember walking in and being overwhelmed by the beauty of the boules. We bought two boules (I love that word)- one to eat in France and one to smuggle back to the United States. We also brought back loads of chocolate, cheese and a few other items. Getting through customs was a little tricky. I thought I might have to pretend that the aroma coming from the stinky cheese was my dirty socks, but the guy in charge merely laughed and said, "what, they don't feed you in the United States?" I responded with, "Not this kind of food!"

Beautiful Boules of Bread

Bread in Europe, as I have said before, is not like bread here. There are a few places in Boulder that make exceptionally good bread, but in general, it's hard to find. I can't stand squishy bagels, soft baguettes and English muffins that lack those little holes. What I do like are bagels that are hard on the outside and chewy with air holes on the inside. Baguettes should be crunchy on the outside and light and airy on the inside, and English muffins need to have holes, people!

For this next part, let me use the the Ciabatta roll as an example, because I'm into that kind of bread lately. I'll take you through what I consider to be the best and the worst when it comes to this yeasty baked good.

Ciabatta bread should be light. It shouldn't feel like a cinder block in your hand. The outer crust should be rustic, fairly hearty and crunchy, none of that soft bullshit. I don't want to be able to squeeze my bread like a roll of toilet paper on a T.V. ad. The insides should not be compressed or overly soft. Instead, the brinnards (yes it is now a real UD term!) should be slightly chewy with plenty of air holes. Here's a good example of the inside of a Ciabatta roll:

Check out the holes! Awesome. 

Here is a not so good example of the innards:

Blah- look how compressed this shit is! 

Here's an example of how the crust should be:

Mmm - nice and crunchy!

And here is a crust that's not appropriate for this bread:

AAK! It's anemic and under-cooked. I bet it's all mushy too. 

Nothing beats good bread with a bit of butter. To me, it's often better than cake, though there are a few cakes that do make me swoon.Still, this kind of bread toasted with a pat of butter is divine.

That's all I got at the moment. As soon as I get a camera, I'll start posting images of cereal and sandwiches... Don't hold your breath though.