One of the paradoxes of recipes for this deservedly popular bread is that many of them suggest adding a pinch of salt to make it more palatable. Bread without any salt is strangely mute, though when this commodity was hard to come by or heavily taxed, it was often omitted by bakers. The French once used to think English bread impossibly salty, high seasoning masking the natural nuttiness of the flour.

Salt does have a useful function, particularly in yeasted breads. Although salt ma