Bread

Slavski kolač is a traditional bread, also known as Slava bread, that plays a central role in the celebration of Slava, a Serbian Orthodox Christian feast honoring a family's patron saint. Each family celebrates its Slava annually, and the Slavski kolač is a symbolic element of this religious occasion. The bread is typically round and decorated with intricate designs made from dough, including Christian symbols such as the cross, doves, or wheat, representing faith, peace, and prosperity. The bread is often made with ingredients like flour, yeast, water, and salt, but sometimes milk, butter or oil, and eggs are added for richness. During the Slava ceremony, the bread is blessed by a priest, and the head of the household breaks the bread, often sharing it with family and guests while offering prayers. The breaking and sharing of the Slavski kolač symbolize unity, family, and the bond with their patron saint. This ritual is deeply rooted in Serbian culture and is an important spiritual tradition.

Slavski kolač

Although soda bread has been known for centuries and was first invented by Native Americans, it was not until the 19th century that this type of bread became commonplace in Ireland. As a result of the potato famine, as well as Ireland's weather and geographical conditions, which allowed only the production of soft wheat that had low protein content, the Irish turned to soda bread as their main source of nutrition. There are only a few of ingredients needed to make the bread; flour, salt, baking soda, and buttermilk, but some recipes may also include olive oil and eggs. This bread requires almost no kneading, and the dough is shaped either as a round cake, or it is flattened and cut into four pieces, known as farls. Depending on the type of flour used (whole wheat or plain), soda bread can be classified as brown or white, and is commonly consumed as an accompaniment to the main meal. If it is consumed for breakfast, the slices are traditionally spread with either butter or honey, or topped with cheese and cold cuts.

Soda Bread

Soda bread farl is an Irish griddle bread that is also a staple of the traditional Irish breakfast known as Ulster Fry. It consists of flour, salt, baking soda, and buttermilk. Just like any soda bread, it doesn't contain any yeast. In the past, soda bread farls were prepared as a quick and easy snack for unexpected guests. The word farl in its name refers to the process of rolling the dough into a flat circle, then dividing it into four pieces. Apart from the Ulster Fry, these farls can also be served with butter and homemade jam or with savory ingredients such as fried eel, bacon, and smoked salmon.

Soda Bread Farl

Somun is a yeast-raised flatbread that's popular all over the Balkans and similar to pide or pitta. It's usually made with a combination of flour, water, salt, and yeast. Once the dough has been prepared, it's traditionally baked on top of old stoves, but nowadays the flatbread is mostly baked in the oven at high temperatures. If properly prepared, the interior should be slightly hollow and puffy. There are many variations on somun, and some cooks top the flatbread with cumin or sesame seeds, while others add oil to the dough. The flatbread is mostly used as a vessel for ćevapi &ndash; small minced meat sausages that have a cult following in the Balkans. Somun is slightly softer than its cousin lepinja, and it's also more aromatic, with a greater melt-in-the-mouth properties.

Somun

Sopa paraguaya is a typical example of a misnomer (a word with a misleading meaning) - although sopa translates to soup, this traditional Paraguayan dish does not even resemble it. In fact, it is a type of thick cornbread flavored with cheese and onions. There are numerous stories connected to the origin of the dish and many explanations for the unusual name. The most common version claims that the dish was an accidental invention of a personal chef who cooked for the Paraguayan president Don Carlos Antonio L&oacute;pez. The chef wanted to prepare a hearty corn soup for the president but accidentally put too much corn flour into the pot, making the consistency of the soup more solid than liquid. With no other options, the alleged soup was served as a corn bread. Fortunately, the president loved this creation, and the dish was later made famous under the wrongfully given name. Today, sopa paraguaya is one the national dishes of the country and a staple during special occasions or festivities. It's traditionally eaten as an accompaniment to soups or barbecued meat, but the corn bread is also a very common breakfast or afternoon snack.

Sopa Paraguaya

Switzerland

St. Galler brot is a traditional bread loaf that is shaped into a round knot with a torn front. It consists of yeast, salt, water, and either strong white flour or dark wheat flour. In order to get a shiny crust, the bread is brushed with water immediately after it is taken out of the oven. This dense, dark-crusted bread usually comes in two varieties &ndash; ruch (dark bread) or halbweiss (a combination of dark and white flour). It is recommended to serve it with butter or homemade fruit jam.

St. Galler Brot

Stottie cake is a soft, dense, and savory bread from England, characterized by an indentation in the middle. It is traditionally consumed split and filled with pease pudding, ham, or similar breakfast staples. The bread is also often consumed as it is, spread only with butter. It is believed that the name of the bread is derived from a Geordie word stot, meaning to bounce, referring to the fact that the bread would bounce when dropped.

Stottie cake

Italy

Strazzata is a traditional focaccia originating from Basilicata, or more precisely the Avigliano area. It's made with a combination of flour, yeast, water, oregano, and black pepper, while ingredients such as pieces of bacon or lard are also sometimes added to the dough. In the past, strazzata was a staple at feasts and weddings, where it would always be served with wine, and often with vegetables, ham, and cheese. The more pepper the focaccia contained, the more wine the people would drink at the wedding. The name of this classic bread is derived from the word strazzat, meaning ripped or torn, referring to the traditional way of tearing chunks of bread with your hands instead of a knife. Nowadays, strazzata is a staple at the Sagra della Strazzata, a festival held each August in Avigliano.

Strazzata

Norway

Sunnm&oslash;rsbr&oslash;d is a traditional bread originating from the district of Sunnm&oslash;re in the county of M&oslash;re og Romsdal. This typical hearty Norwegian bread is usually made with a combination of sugar, oil, maple syrup, salt, rye flour, whole wheat flour, oats, all-purpose flour, water, and yeast. The dough is rolled out into loaves, left to rise, then brushed with butter and baked until the bread is crispy on the outside and soft and light on the inside. The top should have a dark brown color. The bread is typically eaten with butter or served with marinated Edam cheese known as marinert Edamerost.

Sunnmørsbrød

Russia

Tabani is a traditional flatbread originating from the region of Udmurtia. This type of thick pancake or flatbread is based on a sourdough batter that can be made from wheat or buckwheat flour. Other ingredients include water or milk, yeast, sugar, salt, and butter. The batter is typically cooked in a cast-iron pan in a wood-fired brick stove. During the process, the tabani puffs up, and when it's taken out of the stove it becomes flat once again. Once done, tabani is served with various toppings such as meat, mushrooms, or apples. A sauce called zyret is often served on the side and it's made with a mixture of milk, flour, salt, sugar, and butter.

Tabani

Taboon is a Middle Eastern flatbread that is traditionally baked in a clay oven, giving the bread its characteristical bubbly shape. It consists of flour, water, yeast, and sugar. The bread is commonly sold on the streets, stuffed with falafel, shredded meat, or hummus. It is also often used for scooping up meat stews or gravy-based dishes.

Taboon

Australia

Flour and water are the key ingredients when preparing this traditional Māori bread called takaku. While no baking powder or any other type of rising agent is used in the dough, it is, nevertheless, often added along with milk in order to develop a softer and lighter consistency. The bread loaf is usually round, sometimes adorned with lines on the surface reminiscent of a cartwheel, which is why it is commonly referred to as cartwheel bread. Takaku bread can be enjoyed right out of the oven or chilled, and it is usually accompanied by butter, jam, syrup, and a cup of tea on the side. It is also often eaten with a traditional Māori boil-up or hangi.

Takaku Bread

Spain

Talo is a traditional flatbread made with corn flour and water. It is one of the most popular street foods in Basque, usually filled with txistorra sausage, although one can find talo topped with bacon, cheese, and even chocolate. Originally, it was used as bread in Basque houses, but today it is prepared at home only for special occasions.

Talo

Tamees is a traditional flatbread that is widely popular in Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Arabian Peninsula, as well as in some South Asian countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan. This bread is known for its soft, fluffy texture and slightly chewy consistency. Tamees is typically made from basic ingredients such as wheat flour, water, yeast, and salt, with addition of milk to enrich the dough. The preparation of tamees involves mixing the ingredients to form a smooth dough, which is then allowed to rise. After the dough has risen, it is divided into portions and rolled out into large, flat rounds. The rounds are then baked in a wood-fired stone oven, which gives the bread its distinctive texture and slightly smoky flavor. The high heat of the oven causes the bread to puff up, creating a light and airy interior. Tamees is often enjoyed with a variety of accompaniments. It is commonly served with beans, cheese, or honey for breakfast, and it can also be paired with savory dishes such as meat stews and curries.

Tamees

Tapalapa is a traditional bread, also very popular in Guinea. It is made with a mixture of millet and wheat flour with the addition of maize flour, cowpea flour, yeast, salt, and water. Visually, it looks somewhat similar to the French baguette on the exterior, but on the inside, it is much more dense and heavy, and its flavor is reminiscent of pretzels. The bread is typically bought for breakfast, and people like to pair it with jam, butter, or eggs.

Tapalapa

Terme pidesi is the open-faced pide of Terme, a district of Samsun on Turkey's Black Sea coast, and the odd one out among the region's pides: where the neighbouring Bafra and Çarşamba versions are rolled closed into long sealed logs, Terme's is left open, a thin boat of dough with raised edges and the topping fully exposed, baked in a wood-fired oven until the base is crisp and the edges blister. Samsun is Turkey's pide province and the three towns argue over whose is best, with Terme's case resting on the contrast between its thin, crisp floor and the generous, visible topping. The standard toppings are kıymalı with spiced minced beef, kuşbaşılı with hand-cut cubes of meat, kaşarlı with melted kaşar cheese, and the combination of pastırma and cheese; an egg cracked onto the pide for the last minute of baking is common, and the finished pide is brushed with butter and cut into strips.

The dough is a plain lean bread dough of flour, water, yeast, salt and a touch of sugar, proofed, divided and rolled into a long oval barely three millimetres thick in the centre, with the edges rolled or pinched up to form a rim about a centimetre high. The topping goes on raw and spreads to the rim: for kıymalı, minced beef mixed with onion, tomato, green pepper, parsley, salt and pepper and spread thin; for kuşbaşılı, small cubes of lamb or beef cooked briefly first so they do not release water onto the dough; for kaşarlı, grated kaşar in an even layer. The pide is slid onto the floor of a very hot wood-fired oven, around 350°C, for five or six minutes, turned once so it colours evenly, and pulled when the edges are blistered brown and the base is rigid. It is brushed with melted butter, cut crosswise into fingers, and served at once with lemon, parsley and sometimes a side of sliced onion.

Judge the base first: lift a strip and it should hold straight, with a crisp, blistered, lightly charred underside and a thin centre that does not sag under the topping. The rim should be golden and crackling with an open crumb, and the topping should cover the surface to the edge, cooked through, with the meat juicy and the onion and tomato softened into it rather than sitting raw. Mark down a soft or pale base, which means the oven was not hot enough, a thick doughy pide that eats like a flatbread with mince on it, a topping that stops short of the rim or has leaked water and made the centre wet, dry grey mince, cheese that is oily rather than melted, and a pide held and reheated, which shows as a leathery base. The butter brush at the end is standard and should be visible as a sheen, not a pool.

Terme Pidesi

United States

Despite the implications in its name, Texas toast is not sold toasted, but is instead a packaged, sliced bread, characterized by its thickness (twice the thickness of most sliced and packaged bread). It is most commonly used for dishes such as French toast, and others which incorporate heavy substances like sauces and syrups. Sometimes, it is buttered, broiled until golden, and served with pulled pork and garlic. It is also often used in fondues and chicken sandwiches. If there is a barbecue going around, it is not uncommon to see Texas toast served as a side dish. The highly versatile bread is believed to have originated in 1941 in Beaumont, Texas, at the restaurant named Pig Stands when its owner, Royce Hailey, ordered some wide-sliced bread that he intended for toasting. Since the bread was too thick to fit into the toaster, a cook suggested that the bread should be buttered and grilled instead. The dish was a huge success with the customers, and it is still a favorite at the only remaining Pig Stand restaurant in San Antonio.

Texas Toast

India

Thalipeeth is a pancake-like bread belonging to the Maharashtrian cuisine of India. The batter is prepared with a base of Bhajani multi-grain flour, while cumin, chilies, coriander, turmeric, and onions are also added to the mix, making the dish slightly hot and spicy in the process. Thalipeeth is commonly served for breakfast with butter, yogurt, or curd, and it is characterized by a hole in the center. Hot oil is drizzled in the hole, making sure that the pancake is cooked evenly. Although the dish is mostly served for breakfast, it is also popular as a daily snack or a flavorful dinner, best accompanied by tomato chutney on the side. There are also some variations on the dish, such as thalipeeth with potatoes and peanuts, and thalipeeth with finely chopped vegetables.

Thalipeeth

Tiganopsomo is a Greek version of fried bread. It is usually prepared with leavened dough consisting of wheat flour, olive oil, and salt that is rolled into a circle while the center is filled with crumbled feta and herbs such as oregano, rosemary, parsley, mint, or sage. Large disks are then fried in olive oil until golden and crispy. This bread is traditionally served for breakfast, and it is usually sprinkled with sesame seeds or drizzled with honey or balsamic vinegar. Some varieties may come without a filling, and feta can be replaced with mizithra cheese. Translated from Greek, tiganopsomo means fried bread.

Tiganopsomo

Named after the tiger-like exterior of the bread when freshly baked, tijgerbrood is a Dutch bread with a sweet crunch, making it perfect for the preparation of various sandwiches. The tiger spots are developed by covering the dough with a combination of sesame oil, rice flour, sugar, and yeast. The bread is crispy on the outside, but soft and tender on the inside, which is the reason for its popularity in the Netherlands.