At its most basic, bread is simply a dough of flour and water that is cooked. However, many breads involve more ingredients, such as salt and yeast, and processes, such as rising.
Key characteristics of bread include:
ingredients
whether leavened (risen) or unleavened
the sort of leavening
the method of cooking
the appearance – shape, size
the type of crust and crumb
the country of origin.
The key ingredient in bread is flour. The type of flour used makes a big difference to the taste, colour and texture of the bread. Wheat flour is the most common flour used to make bread because the gluten it contains allows the dough to stretch as it rises. Wheat flour may be white, wholemeal, or wholegrain.
Rye flour is also widely used in breadmaking, often mixed with some wheat flour to compensate for rye’s low gluten content.
Most breads include some salt. Some also include a little sugar. The liquid used may be water, milk, buttermilk or yoghurt. Fat such as butter, oil or lard may be used. When ingredients containing fat, such as butter, milk and eggs, are used the bread is often described as enriched.
Other ingredients, such as spices, herbs, nuts and seeds, and dried fruit, may be added to add flavour, texture or sweetness.
The leavening is what causes the bread to rise. Leavening can be achieved by adding bakers’ yeast to the bread dough or by the sourdough method. The sourdough method involves adding a starter fermented by wild atmospheric yeasts to the dough. The sourdough method results in a bread with a more complex flavour and an underlying slightly sour taste.
Unleavened breads are called flat breads. They are typically thin, and without the flavours produced by proofing (rising) the dough.
Most breads are cooked in an oven. The type of oven varies from a standard convection oven to a clay tandoor oven. Some flat breads are cooked on a griddle or in a pan. Bagels are boiled before baking. Others are steamed. A few breads are deep fried.
Some breads are distinctive by how they look. You can recognise them by their size, shape, markings, surface colour, texture or puffiness.
The crispness or softness of the crust is a distinguishing factor between breads. Breads with crisp crusts are described as crusty.
The crumb is the inside of the bread. It ranges from open, with large holes, to dense with no holes.
Traditional breads evolved according to the ingredients available and culture of the region. Although they are now made and eaten in other parts of the world, they are still associated with the place where they originated. For example, baguettes are also called ‘French bread’.