Bread. It is the food that everyone has a passionate opinion on and about. It is the one food item that is at the centre of most people’s diets. It is reliable, and it is dependable; it feeds, it satisfies, it nourishes; it’s always there, even in times when it has been vilified as being no good (for your health). Bread has and will always be around, it will continue to play a central part in our daily living, for bread is life itself.
In this period of Covid-19, many people are cooking more than ever. They have become daily and not just weekly cooks. One of the things that people have been making the most is bread. It is particularly rewarding seeing and hearing first-time bread bakers gush with glee at their success of making bread. It is an achievement like no other; it’s like you created something, nurtured it and watched it grow (literally), and then it comes out of the oven perfectly browned. You did that yourself! You made bread! Keep smiling, be proud of yourself. Embrace the hope that wells up in you that all will be well… you can make bread!
Almost everyone grew up being familiar with a neighbourhood bakery. For those in rural areas, it would have been the weekly assembly of women at an outdoor brick oven in a village baking bread. The afternoon aroma of bread baking that fills the streets is a warm and comforting feeling. The daily buying of bread is a like ritual. One knows exactly the time to arrive to get the bread while it is still warm, to take home a loaf or two (depending on the size of your household) to have with dinner, as a late-night snack, and for breakfast the next day; perhaps even making sandwiches to take to school or work the following day. Bread is a food that plays a central role in our lives.
It is easy to see why bread is so loved. It is easy food, and what I mean by that is that it is always at hand and can be eaten in a variety of ways. Bread can be eaten plain, without anything and it goes with almost everything including, but not limited to butter, jam, cheese, ham, eggs, soups, stews, sardines, corned beef, vegetables. It can be turned into savoury and sweet dishes, bread and butter pudding anyone? If there is nothing else around in the house to eat, one needs ever to worry as long as there is bread.
Over the past few years bread has been vilified by some, considered to be influencers. Suddenly, many people were becoming gluten intolerant. I say becoming because these were people who were not medically diagnosed as having Celiac disease (an immune disease in which people can’t eat gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. If they do it will damage their small intestine). I am talking about the people who wanted to join a trend and make it a fad to not eat bread. It is astonishing (not really) when you see them posting online and talking now about having to “break” their rule of not eating bread because it is so delicious and tempting; and sharing how much they miss bread. Mind you, in all the delight, not a word of being sick from or after eating the bread, it is like they can’t get enough. Rant over.
As much as people have avoided eating bread and giving it a bad name, there have been loud complaints, for years now, about the quality of bread we get these days. Many of the small/neighbourhood bakeries have gone out of business, replaced by big commercial bakeries. And often, the bread from commercial bakeries leaves a lot to be desired. While many of the loaves look like bread, the taste and texture are far removed from what we know and expect bread to be.
One of the constructive things to come out of the Covid-19 environment is seeing people getting back to making their own bread at home and realizing how much of a better job they are doing. It has given rise to first time bakers being encouraged, coached and guided by many, to make their own bread. It is also bringing a renewed meaning to “breaking bread” at mealtime.
In many countries around the world, during lockdown, among the essential businesses that are permitted to remain open are bakeries. Here in Barbados, there are reports of long snaking lines, made even longer by the practice of physical/ social distancing, as people gather daily to buy bread. An article I read a couple of weeks ago, What coronavirus reveals about the world’s culture, said the traditional French baguette will never fall out of fashion – not even in a pandemic. The official decree issued by the French Health Ministry deemed boulangeries, among other places, as “indispensable for the continuity of the life of the nation”. A boulangerie is a French bakery that bakes their bread on-premises. Such is the importance of bread. It is as I have said, life.
So, this weekend, what say you? Get out some flour, salt, yeast and water and make some bread. You have the time, go online and find a recipe that suits you and your skill level and have a go at it.
Stay safe wherever you are.
Cynthia
