Bread: Overview: Breads from Different Cultures

In a nation of immigrants, breads from various cultures have inevitably appeared. Early German settlers ate familiar rye breads like pumpernickel, though it was later Jewish immigrants who made this a staple. Americans continued, like the English, to make “French bread.” With Italian immigration, Americans who liked crusty bread could also choose Italian breads. In 1901, the author of The Baker’s Book noted the demand for “the English bread baked in tins as well as almost all existing French and German varieties (I: p. 166).” Jewish bakeries introduced not only specifically Jewish breads, such as challah and matzoh, but Austro-Hungarian, German, and Russian breads. Crisp Swedish flatbread has a long history in America but became most familiar in the 1970s, as did softer flatbreads like the Middle Eastern pita and Armenian lavash. Tortillas, known since the country expanded west, have remained an adjunct to Mexican food. Indian breads, like naan and chapati, are similarly known from that cuisine.