Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | NXg | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Bread… When we were children the very mention of this food item meant that a thermometer had been stuck into one of us and the reading was above normal. Breakfast then would be dry toast(not a drop of butter… which was the only way we would be caught dead eating it)with a glass of Horlicks. Over the years bread was always a last resort as when the dear mother forgot to do her shopping or was sulking after a fight and was in no mood to be feeding hungry kids. In those days bread usually meant ‘Modern Bread’ or the more exotic variety from the local bakery kneaded by hand and wonderfully soft and sweet smelling. It could transform into a Bombay toast(bread dipped in beaten egg and toasted) or even turn into a sandwich. Sometimes it was just Amul butter with two slices of modern bread but the salty butter made up for it. When we had been real good (no fuss and allowing mother to sleep in the afternoons)the bread would come toasted with peanut butter and marmalade and that would want us to be good all over again.

Today things are far far different from those days. The old bakeries with their sweaty men kneading away and baking in old fashioned ovens have given way to exclusive bread shops with fancy names like the ‘French Loaf’ or ‘La Boulangerie’. Bread is also available at ‘Naturally Auroville’ and other lifestyle stores. Of course the prelude to these was ‘Hot Breads’ which introduced variety and flavour to the lowly bread. Today quite like everything else one is spoilt for choice in the selection of breads. So it could start with garlic bread and move on to a wholewheat, a multigrain (no one tell us what grains go into it), or a baguette, a rye bread etc… the list is endless and gets more and more intriguing. Prices can range from Rs.39 a loaf and upwards. In smaller places a whole wheat loaf will cost around Rs.20 and in the real fancy ones a similar loaf costs Rs.65.

Variety has also brought with it amazing combinations - so a simple crisp toast can transform into a nice garlic toast by rubbing a pod of raw garlic on it, a dash of olive oil and there you have it… tastes that can take you all the way to the Mediterranean and back. Or you can get some good lettuce leaves, a few fresh plum tomatoes a dash of pepper, salt and a thin layer of cheese voila - a nice wholesome sandwich.

Pieces of fried bread add character to soup. Variety comes in even at the baking stage, so herbs, cheese and some aromatics can all form part of the basic bread recipe.

It’s pretty obvious that eating bread is no long for the sick and dying but has transformed into a very hip and happening pastime, so don’t be surprised that everyone is talking of having croissants for breakfast or sandwiches for tea… c’est la pain. The humble bread has arrived and one had better know ones croissants from ones baguette or be forever relegated to being a thing of the past.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail