Bread

Bread is a staple food which is prepared by baking, steaming, or frying dough. Bread consists minimally of flour and water; salt is present in most cases; and usually a leavening agent such as yeast is used. more...

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Breads may also contain some amounts of sugar, spices, fruit (such as raisins, pumpkin or bananas), vegetables (like onion or zucchini) nuts and seeds (such as caraway, sesame or poppy seeds), which are often used for decorative and flavoring purposes. There are a wide variety of breads and preferred varieties often vary from region to region.

Fresh bread is prized for its taste and texture, and retaining its freshness is important to keep it appetizing. Bread that has stiffened or dried past its prime is said to be stale. Modern bread is often wrapped in paper or plastic film, or stored in airtight containers such as a breadbox to keep it fresh longer. Bread that is kept in warm moist environments is prone to the growth of mold. It becomes stale more quickly in the low temperature of a refrigerator, although by keeping it cool, mold is less likely to grow.

Usage

Bread can be served ranging anywhere from room temperature to piping hot. Once baked, bread can subsequently be toasted. Bread is most commonly picked up and eaten with the hands, although some applications of bread are more easily eaten with the aid of a utensil such as a fork. It can be eaten by itself or as a carrier for another, usually less compact food. Bread may be dunked or dipped into a liquid (such as beef gravy or olive oil), topped with various spreads, both sweet and savory, or serve as the enclosure for the ubiquitous sandwich with any number of meats, cheeses, vegetables or condiments inside. Across the world, bread is the preferred vehicle for many toppings that vary from culture to culture, such as:

• butter -- \"bread and butter\" has become a famous phrase connoting a duo.
• nut butters such as peanut butter
• fruit-based spreads such as jam, jelly, apple butter or marmalade
• molasses, maple syrup or honey
• liverwurst or other forms of pâté
• cream cheese or other soft processed cheese spreads, such as The Laughing Cow
• yeast-based spreads such as Marmite or Vegemite
• hummus, refried beans and other bean-based spreads
• prepared salads, such as tuna, chicken, egg or ham salad, and myriad other foods

Etymology

The word itself, Old English bread, is common in various forms to many Germanic languages; such as German Brot, Dutch brood, Swedish bröd, and Norwegian brød; it has been derived from the root of brew, but more probably is connected with the root of break, for its early uses are confined to broken pieces, or bits of bread, the Latin frustum, and it was not until the 12th century that it took the place—as the generic name for bread—of hlaf (modern English loaf), which appears to be the oldest Teutonic name; Old High German hleib and modern German Laib, or Finnish leipä, Estonian leib, and Russian хлеб (khleb) are similar (all are derived from Old Germanic).

Read more at Wikipedia.org