Yeast Breads

The most basic yeast dough contains four primary ingredients: flour, yeast, water and salt. From such simple doughs come white bread, French bread, rye bread, whole wheat bread, country-style loaves, rolls and Middle Eastern pita bread. (In Tuscany the salt is left out of bread so that it will keep for longer, since salt absorbs moisture.) Simple doughs are often enriched with cheese, fruit or vegetables and sweet ingredients like chocolate or molasses. Other simple yeast doughs include sourdough, a specialty of San Francisco, and British crumpets, rounds of thin pancake-like honeycombed bread toasted on a griddle.