Bread is a staple in many countries and cultures. It’s one of the world’s oldest food. At its most basic, the dough is made with flour and water and then baked.
There is virtually an infinite number of combinations you can make for bread including different flours, proportions of ingredients, method of preparation and add-on ingredients. In the United States, here are the most-loved breads:
Pan de Mallorca
Pan de Mallorca is from Puerto Rico and it’s a flavorful bread roll characterized by fluffy, soft and buttery texture. The bread is made using yeast, flour, egg yolks, milk water, and butter. You can butter this bread and pair it with hot coffee. It is also great with ham and cheese.
Hoagie Roll
This long and flat roll is used for submarine sandwiches, hoagie sandwiches and Philly cheesesteak sandwiches. It has a hard exterior and soft interior. The hoagie roll is made with yeast, flour, milk, oil, salt, eggs and sugar.
Cuban Bread
Cuban bread is a white bread with a rectangular shape. It has a thin hard crust and a flaky and soft interior with air pockets. It’s of course used in the Cuban sandwich and best paired with coffee.
Pepperoni Roll
West Virginia specializes in the pepperoni roll and it’s a white bread roll filled with slices or sticks of pepperoni.
Johnnycake
This is a cornmeal flatbread made with fried cornmeal, hot water or milk, and salt. It’s a staple in Rhode Island where they drizzle it with syrup or butter for breakfast, or use it as a side for meat dishes for lunch.
Frybread
South Dakota’s official state bread since 2005, the frybread is a deep-fried flat bread. It’s made with flour, lard, sugar, salt, powdered milk and yeast. It’s often paired with jam, honey or beef.
Texas Toast
Texas toast is not toasted – it’s a very thick sliced bread used for French toast. It is buttered and served with garlic and pulled pork. It’s also sometimes used in chicken sandwiches and fondues, or even BBQ.
California Sourdough
Sourdough has been a staple in Western cuisine for a very long time. During the Gold Rush, the Boudin family (French bakers) came to San Francisco and sold sourdough bread.
New York City Bagels
Bagels are iconic in New York. This boiled then baked hand-shaped round rolls have a hole in the center similar to doughnuts. But unlike a doughnut it’s dense with a malty flavor and a crunchy and shiny exterior.
Cornbread
The cornbread is the American classic bread. This soft baked bread reminds us of the American past. Corn has been a staple among Native Americans, who were the first ones to make cornbread. This original version was white in color and was much more dense.
Where can you find the best bagel in New York? Watch this: