The Daily Tiffin: Blog the Bread #1

Looking for Soeren's lunchbox? Sorry, none today? Soeren is off to his grandparents for the weekend.

Instead I thought I'd treat you to my first promised German bread review. Under Blog the Bread I'll be posting a few posts every now and then talking about the breads I use and what a large variety is available here in Germany. If you're interested, tune in later.

Now, I have to drive Soeren to his grandparents - see ya'll later

Well here it is at last. My first German bread review.

I'll start by introducing my baker: His name is Herr (German for Mr.) Becker. I am always joking around with him and calling him "Becker the Baker". He has 4 wonderful daughters: Katarina, Katy, Kim, Keila and his wife Kathrin (a lot of K's). They all help out at the bakery and are such a wonderful and kind hearted family. Soeren is always getting free treats when we go and we are there 3 to 4 times a week!

The bakery produces (mostly) organic breads and pastry and the thing I like is that Herr Becker is always trying out new things. Kneading and mixing up concoctions, always busy and always with a huge grin on his face.

This bread here is our favorite. It really is hard to choose one favorite when the variety is so huge. But it is something I always buy. It is only available on Mondays and Thursdays. On one of those days I do always go and get a loaf.

Bakeries in Germany sell their large selection of breads in uncut loaves. They are all piled and sorted nicely on shelves behind the glass sales counters. In the glass counters you are disillusioned by the colorful selection of wonderful pastries, cakes and cookies. I think if I was ever left in there at my own risk I would dive into the counter - one of my more crazy fantasies!

The loaves of bread are sold by weight and depending on what's in them. One of the very best moments is to come home with a bread that is still warm, cutting a slice with the bread knife and the aroma of this wonderful freshly baked good spreading throughout the house, getting some fresh butter out of the fridge and spreading it on the slice. As the butter melts and trickles into the bread you take a huge bite. UMMMMMM! Heavenly!

Did you know that there are at least 300 German bread types to choose from! I think however that, that is just a rough basic number and in actual fact the number is a lot higher. What I like about the bakeries here is you can often buy just half of a loaf. Which I do very often. I buy a half of one type and half of another type. This way I have a variety and it does not spoil that quickly.

Anyway, back to this bread. This one has a name - Bernd the Bread! I am being serious. He is so popular he even has his own TV series for kids! No jokes!

The bread is made from rye and is packed with flax, sesame, sunflower and oats, as you can see on the crust. This is also one of the very few breads that Soeren will eat with crusts. Now surprises there, eh?

I love to eat this one spread with cream cheese and a spoonful of pesto alla genovese on top. That is so scrumptious!

We eat a lot of bread at home. There are two or three times a week when I will cut up the fresh bread slices and spread a variety of cheeses, hams, salamis and other cold cuts or fish out on the table. There are also tomatoes, carrots or salads to go along. We then sit at the table and enjoy laying our own slices with whatever we want and like. This is a very typical German way to have a light supper and is often reffered to as "kaltes abendbrot" meaning a cold supper. The word "abendbrot" is also very revealing as "abend" means evening and "brot is the German word for "bread". So the word itself says a lot about how the German eating habit in the evenings is ;-)

Of course, if any "real" Germans reading this would like to add or modify anything I have written, please do.

Hope you enjoyed this first little review. I'll be doing this type review for each type of bread that I buy and on an irregular basis but mostly on the weekends, when I have more time ;-)

I'd love to hear your comments and feedback about your bread experiences in your country or home.

Happy Weekend!