The Staff of Life and Substance of Rebirth

Art Culinaire, Fall, 2001

WAIT-DON'T THROW THAT BREAD AWAY! You might as well sell your soul if you're pitching stale bread. It's the staple of every kitchen and cornerstone of far too many recipes to be neglected after its supple interior has stiffened. Binding, thickening, coating, stuffing, dusting, filling; no matter the need, stale bread is no loaf.

Stale bread is perhaps a thing of contemporary times, regarded and consumed with a different type of reverence in centuries past; the days of shelves filled with deteriorating loaves are recent. Bread was once highly coveted. French peasants of the old school would make the sign of the cross over fresh loaves before breaking and eating it. Bread has long been a symbol of religion and a holy sacrament; the word Bethlehem itself translates into "the house of bread." Not only was the act of receiving bread venerated, but the act of making it a highly guarded craft. Years of training were required and certain rules, even laws enforced. Bread, was permitted to be made only with those grains deemed suitable in order to preserve the quality of the bread and "to avoid wasting so precious a commodity as flour" (Toussant-Samat 237). During the reign of Philippe II of France in the 1200s, bakers were permitted to have their own ovens, freeing them from the schedules of the public ovens. Though the safety of such an inc rease in private ovens was not monitored, restrictions on type of flour and method of preparation continued to be strictly regulated. There was a "legal standard" to be followed. Any baker, who did not adhere to the king's bread policy, was fined heavily. As guilds emerged throughout the thirteenth century among different food artisans, bread bakers formed their own clique. Before a baker could consider himself a "master" or set up shop, he had to acquire a certificate of skill from his peers. Once in business, the baker relied on a tier of servants to run his bakery. At the bottom were the apprentices; they paid a stipend to work for the baker. It was their job to haul the flour, stoke the fire, clean, cook, and most importantly, knead the dough. Higher on the totem pole were the valets soudoyes or paid servants. They shaped the dough loaves and managed production. They did not work for any other master.

It was perhaps during the Industrial Revolution that bread lost much of its character; changing from a product of the communal hearth to a product of mass production. The mechanical era replaced hand made loaves with chemically enhanced breads, uniform in every way and totally uninteresting. After the Industrial and World War eras, a sentiment to return to artisanal products grew. Peter Reinhart suggests in Crust & Crumb (Ten Speed Press 1998) this shift came about in part, due to the grass root subculture of the 1960s and the ensuing health movement of the 70s, and 80s. But, the opening of the bakeries like the Seattle, Washinton based The Little Bread Company and the Berkely, california based Acme Bread Company in 1983 marked a significant return to the craft of artisan breads in America. Restaurants like Chez Panisse supported this movement by featuring classic European breads of local bakeries. To achieve full awareness of the value of quality bread, Reinhart explains that an appreciation of "whole grain s, traditional methodologies, and neotraditional creativity" is necessary. The formation of The Bread Bakers Guild of America in 1993 has brought the baking industry full circle providing educational, research, and certification programs, similar to the days when working with flour, water, and yeast was a skill to be nurtured.

Yet, the large production of today's bakeries cannot be ignored, and they leave us with more than our fill. The result-unwanted, stiff loaves, often cast out, occasionally re-employed. Breadcrumbs are, of course, used the world over and recipes for bread pudding, bread coating, bread sauces, etc., abound. Rather than discard day old bread, let us exploit the merits of giving bread new life. In medieval times it was a common practice to use a hollowed-out loaf as the container for a sweet or savory dish or as the primary thickening agent next to almonds (Davidson 103). Country cooking of the Mediterranean relied on breadcrumbs to help form an emulsion base for a cold sauce, also known as a rouille. In the south of France, a rouille is often made with the addition of spicy chilies, garlic, and fish stock. A French persillade, a thick paste of parsley and garlic, would not be complete without breadcrumbs. Italians too, are notorious users of day old bread, employing it in dumplings, sauces, soups, salads, and d esserts. The peverada sauce of northern Italy combines ground stale bread, bone marrow, grated cheese, black pepper and oil. The famed panzanella bread salads of Tuscany would be lost without their share of bread cubes soaked with vinaigrette. Zuppe, soups thickened with the addition of breadcrumbs are also mainstays of an Italian diet. Likewise, in Spain, both white and red gazpacho benefit from a handful of breadcrumbs. The United Kingdom owes its few culinary contributions, bread puddings and bangers to stale bread. Central and Eastern Europe's cuisines would be remiss without grated crumbs for their schnitzels, matzos, and strudels. After a lengthy history and universal appeal, not to mention the millions of devoted bakers who have toiled to perfect the crumb, it seems a sin to throw away this sacred, nourishing staple.