Bread Around the World: 22 Loaves Every Food Lover Should Know
Bread is the oldest recipe there is, and every culture bakes its own answer. Ethiopia ferments teff into sour, spongy injera. Iceland steams rye in the ground beside hot springs. Colombia griddles corn into arepas. Here are 22 traditional breads from around the world, each with a recipe for an ordinary oven.
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Injera
EthiopiaTeff batter fermented for days into a sour, spongy sheet. It is the plate and the cutlery too.
Meet Injera, the soft, tangy flatbread that sits at the very heart of Ethiopian dining. Made from nutty teff flour and fermented until it turns pleasantly sour, this spongy bread doubles as both plate and cutlery, ready to scoop …
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Naan
IndiaLeavened dough slapped onto the wall of a tandoor and cooked in ninety seconds.
Discover naan, the soft, pillowy flatbread that sits at the heart of so many Indian meals. With its tender, fluffy crumb and gently charred surface, it is the perfect partner for rich curries and creamy dals, or simply torn and …
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Pretzel
GermanyDipped in lye before baking, which is what gives the dark skin and the particular taste.
Discover the Pretzel, one of Germany's most iconic baked treats. With its glossy, deep-golden crust and soft, pillowy crumb, this twisted bread is far more than a simple snack. It is a cultural emblem found in bakeries and beer …
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Challah
IsraelEnriched braided bread for the Sabbath, made round and with honey at the New Year.
Meet Challah, the glossy, golden braided loaf at the heart of Jewish festive tables. Lightly sweetened and beautifully plaited, it is a bread that feeds the eyes as much as the appetite. Traditionally baked for the Sabbath and …
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Arepas
ColombiaGriddled maize cakes, split and filled. Colombia and Venezuela both claim them.
Say hello to Arepas, the warm cornmeal flatbreads that sit at the very heart of Colombian cooking. Crisp on the outside and pillowy within, they are endlessly versatile, split them open and pile in cheese, meat or fresh vegetables …
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Rúgbrauð
IcelandRye dough buried near a hot spring and baked underground for 24 hours. Dark and sweet.
Meet Rúgbrauð, Iceland's famous dark rye bread, dense, faintly sweet and wonderfully moist. Traditionally buried in the ground near a hot spring and left to bake slowly in the geothermal heat, it has fed Icelandic households for …
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Simit
TurkeyA sesame ring dipped in grape molasses before baking, sold from carts all over Turkey.
Discover Simit, one of Turkey's most beloved baked treats. This crisp sesame ring is a familiar sight on street corners and breakfast tables across the country, prized for its golden crust and chewy crumb. Wonderfully fragrant …
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Soda Bread
IrelandBicarbonate and buttermilk instead of yeast. Ireland's soft wheat could not raise a proper loaf.
Discover Raisin Soda Bread, one of Ireland's most cherished bakes. This rustic loaf folds plump, juicy raisins into a hearty soda bread that comes together in minutes. With no yeast and no kneading marathon required, it rewards …
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Tortillas de Harina
MexicoWheat tortillas from northern Mexico, rolled thin with lard and cooked on a comal.
Meet Tortillas de Harina, the soft, pillowy flour tortillas that form the backbone of so much Mexican home cooking. Made from just a handful of pantry staples, these versatile wraps are the perfect canvas for everything from …
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Lavash
ArmeniaPaper-thin bread baked against the wall of a tonir. UNESCO listed it in 2014.
Discover Lavash, the paper-thin flatbread that sits at the very heart of the Armenian table. Made from nothing more than flour, water and salt, it is proof that the simplest ingredients often make the finest bread. Traditionally …
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Pão de Queijo
BrazilCassava starch and cheese, no wheat at all. Chewy inside and hollow.
Meet Pão de Queijo, Brazil's very good little cheese balls. Made from tapioca flour rather than wheat, these golden bites are wonderfully chewy on the inside, crisp on the outside and naturally gluten-free. Best served warm and …
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Focaccia
ItalyDimpled dough flooded with olive oil and coarse salt before it goes in the oven.
Discover Focaccia, one of Italy's most beloved breads. With its golden, crackling crust and a soft, pillowy crumb beneath, this simple loaf has been winning hearts far beyond its Ligurian homeland. Scented with rosemary and a …
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Ruisleipä
FinlandDense sourdough rye with a hole in the middle, from when loaves hung from a pole to dry.
Meet Ruisleipä, the dark rye loaf that Finns have leaned on for generations. More than everyday sustenance, this dense, wholesome bread is woven into Finnish culture itself. Its deep colour and hearty, faintly nutty flavour come …
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Broa de Milho
PortugalMaize and rye bread with a thick crust, from northern Portugal.
Say hello to Broa de Milho, Portugal's beloved rustic cornbread. With its golden crust, dense crumb and gently sweet, earthy flavour, this loaf has graced country tables for generations. Born in the farmhouses of the north, it …
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Khobz
MoroccoRound Moroccan flatbread, often carried to a communal oven to bake.
Meet Khobz, the traditional bread that sits at the heart of every Moroccan meal. With its soft, airy crumb and crisp golden crust, this everyday loaf is far more than a simple staple. It is a symbol of warmth and hospitality. …
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Aish Baladi
EgyptWholemeal flatbread that puffs into a pocket. Its name in Egypt simply means life.
Meet Aish Baladi, the everyday flatbread that sits at the very heart of Egyptian cooking. Made from just a handful of humble ingredients, this wholemeal bread rewards you with a wonderfully nutty flavour and a soft, slightly chewy …
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Bannocks
ScotlandFlat oat or barley cakes cooked on a griddle. Older than ovens in Scotland.
Meet Bannocks, the humble griddle bread that has fed Scottish households for centuries. Made from little more than flour, butter and a pinch of salt, these rustic flatbreads are as easy to make as they are satisfying to eat. …
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Damper
AustraliaFlour, water and salt baked in the ashes. What Australian drovers made with what they carried.
Discover Damper, the rustic camp bread woven into the story of the Australian bush. Made from just a handful of storecupboard staples, this simple loaf bakes beautifully over an open fire or in a home oven. With its crisp crust …
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Rewena Parāoa
New ZealandMāori bread raised on a potato starter kept alive and fed for years.
Meet Rewena Bread, a traditional New Zealand loaf raised with a bubbling starter made from fermented potato. Soft and airy inside, gently tangy and deeply savoury, it is the kind of bread that turns a simple meal into something …
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Cornbread
USACornmeal batter poured into a hot skillet of fat. Southern versions leave out the sugar.
Meet Cornbread, one of the great icons of American home cooking. This fluffy, lightly sweet cornmeal loaf has its roots deep in the kitchens of the Southern states, where it has long been the perfect partner to hearty stews and …
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Hard Dough Bread
JamaicaDense, slightly sweet Jamaican loaf, brought by Chinese immigrants and made local.
Meet Hard Dough Bread, the dense, slightly sweet loaf that turns up on breakfast tables and lunch boxes right across Jamaica. With its crisp crust and soft, springy crumb, it is the island's answer to a proper sliced sandwich …
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Chapati
KenyaKenya's is thicker and flakier than the Indian original, made with layers of oil.
Discover Chapati, the soft, flaky flatbread found in kitchens all across Kenya. Made from little more than flour, salt and oil, it turns out remarkably rich in flavour, crisp at the edges, tender in the middle and layered like the …
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