Wednesday 19 January 2005

Pic of the day: Slice of life, give us today our bread ... Yes, it is a photo from REAL LIFE! Pheer my 1337 photo skillz!

You will rye this day!

The last few days I've eaten a quite nice rye bread. This is unusual. The bread is called "sandwich bread" and does not look all that special. It is darker than fine or "French" breads, but no more than other middle-fine breads. It does not fall apart even when not handled with care. If I couldn't read the packaging, I wouldn't have known that there was rye involved.

It isn't really a rye bread, either. With 40% wheat flour, it is toxic to anyone with gluten allergy. Nor does it come across as medieval or otherwise old-fashioned. It is just a really tasty bread that keeps longer without going dry or soggy. It may be slightly less elastic, easier to cut or break, but not really noticeable compared to other middle-fine breads.

It is my impression that rye bread is usually only made for the health conscious. Apart from the poor people with gluten allergy, and I'm not even sure if this is what they eat, "health conscious" seems to mean people whose potty training went horribly wrong and who now feel a deep inner need to defecate violently till they bleed. Dark and made from whole grains, husks and perhaps parts of the stalk as well, it is bound to have a similar effect as when dogs eat grass. I avoid these parodies of bread automatically. I'd rather even have carrot bread. (Yes, I bought a carrot bread once, and it tasted OK, but it is not something you can keep eating if you commute to work.) Of course, you should adjust for the fact that I have nearly the kind of digestion that God wanted to give us humans, while most other people these days seem to be horribly constipated for some reason. Or perhaps they are the normal ones, but if so, why the huge consumption of pills and other strange remedies, not to mention dark rye bread?

Anyway, this sandwich bread is not like that at all. It tastes like bread, only less dry and more tasty. It also contains a bit of syrup which may help the taste. It is based on sourdough, so I'm unlikely to be able to make it myself if I ever take up the hobby of baking bread. (I have thought about it from time to time, now that there are semi-automatic bread-baking machines.) Besides, I only know the ingredients, not the exact amounts.

Hopefully I will find it again in the shop someday. But for now, I still have enough for several more days.