January 1, 2007
After we had eaten all 82 breads (that sounds like a powerful lot of eating, doesn't it?), we each tried to make a list of our ten favorite breads. Our instructions to ourselves were to be ruthless in deciding which ones made the cut. Even with these instructions, however, we both ended up with an initial list of close to 40. Jim finally culled his list down to his top twenty:
1. Olive Loaf
2. Stud Muffin
3. Wheaten Croissants
4. Sourdough Pumpernickel Bread
5. Grilled Focaccia
6. Pretzel Bread
7. Potato Flatbread Pizza
8. Cinnamon Crumb Surprise
9. Touch of Grace Biscuits
10. Golden Semolina Torpedo
11. Alsatian Onion Pizza
12. Flaxseed Loaf
13. Chocolate Sticky Buns
14. Cracked Wheat Loaf
15. Cranberry-Banana-Walnut Quick Bread
16. Ciabatta
17. Kheema Paratha
18. Rosemary Focaccia
19. Brinna’s Pugliese
20. Butter Biscuits
In trying to make my list, I decided it was too hard to compare wildly different kinds of breads, so I made some fairly arbitrary categories:
Bread That Makes Storebought Version Now Unacceptable:
Pita Bread
Crumpets
English Muffins
Best Sourdough
Sourdough Wheat with Seeds
Sourdough Pumpernickel
Best Plain Loaf:
Flaxseed Loaf
Cracked Wheat Loaf
Pullman Loaf
French Country Boule
Heart of Wheat Bread
Best Fancy Loaf:
Prosciutto Ring
Olive Bread
Monkey Bread
New Zealand Almond and Fig Bread
Best Quick Bread:
Carrot Bread
Cranberry-walnut Quick Bread
Cinnamon Crumb Surprise
Best Main Course Bread:
Kheema Paratha
Potato Flatbread Pizza
Best Italian Bread:
Pugliese
Best Biscuit:
Touch of Grace
Best Breakfast Bread
Scones
Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Best Bread with Chocolate
Chocolate Almond Swirl Kugelhopf
Chocolate Sticky Buns
Proudest Achievement:
Wheaten Croissants
Rosemary Focaccia (Redux)
Levy's Bagels
Favorite Bread That Doesn't Fit in Any of Above Categories:
Royal Irish Soda Bread
Bialys
I believe there are 30 breads on my list of very, very favorites. Sorry, but that's the best I can do.
6 comments:
I have always wanted to ask you what your favorite breads have been. I love how your list reads like a academy award list...'and the best bread for cinematography goes to...'
Glad you both are still kicking. Now go throw out those old peppercorns. Happy New Year! Melinda
Thank you for doing this. I just got her book out of the library, and didn't really know which ones to try, so your list is great!
happy rising!
Marie - I love your list. Thanks for posting both your list and Jim's. I just picked up The Bread Bible from the library. Now I have to decide which one to try this weekend? tough choices, :)! I think I will use your list as a guide.
Jenn,
You have so many wonderful breads ahead of you! I almost wish I could just go through the whole book again. Maybe I will.
Marie - you SHOULD go through the whole book again. At the very list make Jim's and your own favorites. I would think you can even do some modification experiments - as I see you have been doing here and there. Or maybe you could bake through Maggie Glezer's book? I don't know if you've done that yet. I want to tell you that I made the biga for the olive bread last night. I will start the rest tomorrow am. I'm so excited. I will post the results on my blog. It's all thanks to you (and Rose of course), but reading your blog inspire me!
Jenn,
I do feel very nostalgic for these breads. I've made the olive bread several times, and it always surprises me how good it is. You're in for a treat!
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