...was the question on my mind this morning as I munched on my mid-day sandwich. Crisp on the outside, soft and spongy on the inside - olive and herb ciabatta with strong cheddar cheese and freshly sliced cucumbers with a touch of zingy, tangy nando's sauce - a simple yet exquisite taste experience...
I've hated bread and sandwiches all my life (unless toasted, or drowned in hot fillings till the bread taste vanished) and I still remember the fuss I made over sandwiches in my lunchbox everyday. I discovered a hidden fondness for bread when I moved to New Zealand for a few years. I'm not sure if it was the fact that they were the easiest lunches to prepare when you live alone, or if the bread there was just that good.
I believe it was a combination of both. Nonetheless, it was there that I discovered the truly mind-boggling variety of flavours and textures and aromas that the common bread loaf could come in. Bürgen I have to say was my all time favourite - their soy n linseed loaf was to die for. Ahh...and the fruit bread made an amazingly quick and satisfying breakfast-on-the-run, two slices in the toaster, drizzled with a bit of butter and I was off. Sweet and salty, fruity yet hot and crispy - mmm...it was good.
I haven't been able to find bread like that since moving back to Abu Dhabi and thus I quickly regained my distaste for sandwiches in general. Even the subway here offers a plain white, slightly-sweet, flattens-when-you-touch it bread when you ask for italian. I miss the italian herbs and cheese oh so much!
My bread this morning was ciabatta - originally invented by the italians but discovered fairly recently at the bakery section of a local hypermarket. This is one of a very small list of breads I actually enjoy (and is available in Abu Dhabi), mainly because the bread doesn't flatten and is salty instead of sweet with a nice crisp crust that toasts beautifully. I thoroughly recommend it for any fellow pining-for-good-bread-in-Abu-Dhabi folks around.
I'm welcome to other bread findings that people may have come across in Abu Dhabi, so let me sign off here and leave the rest up to my readers!
Till next time folks!
No comments:
Post a Comment