Many diets advise to give up bread. In France, it is common to get a freshly baked baguette from the boulangerie in the evening as well. Nevertheless, many French ladies manage to stay enviably slim. The secret is not to give up bread. The quality is crucial.

The more time the better

The quality of the bread is determined by the natural ingredients, the oven and the time factor. Bread enthusiasts guide (this is the technical term) a sourdough for a natural sourdough bread for 65 hours.

28 hours is not uncommon in bakeries where the quality of bread is taken seriously. During this time, the sourdough is guided up to three times.

The work, the storage at a certain temperature, the quality control – these activities alone demonstrate how precious good bread is.

The fewer ingredients, the better

Good quality bread does not contain additives such as flavor enhancers, emulsifiers, flavors or thickeners, which give the taste to industrially produced bread and make it possible to bake bread in a very short time, by machine.

For a natural bread, only natural ingredients such as flour, water, salt, sourdough and/or a little yeast are used.

The simple test for good bread

A good bread whose dough does not contain synthetic acidifiers, emulsifiers or technical enzymes and has been baked in a wood-fired oven, for example, cannot be compared with industrially produced bread.

The test: If a slice of bread tastes great without any spread or topping and keeps for two weeks without going moldy, you’ve chosen well.

A still warm bread from the bakery is irresistible. High-quality bread still tastes good in the second week – should there really still be some left.

Good quality bread a delicacy

The higher price of a bread that was not made overnight in a factory is more than justified because of all the manual work, the high-quality raw materials and the time it takes.

The long shelf life compared to industrially produced bread, which often starts to mold after just a few days, makes up for the price. In addition, good bread is also excellent to freeze.

An artisan good bread without artificial additives is a delicacy and luxury as we define it.

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If you don’t have the time and/or passion to bake bread yourself, you should set out to find the few worthy bakeries whose ambition is to bake good quality bread.

Even though there are now one or two new start-ups and Joseph Brot has cult status in Vienna, more and more traditional bakeries are closing their bakery for good. They do not find a successor or cannot survive in a market where price rather than taste seems to count in the majority.

The good baker needs you urgently

Once you have found a bakery that values natural basic ingredients and does not shy away from craftsmanship, become an ambassador for that bakery in your city. You will automatically become a regular customer, because industrially produced bread will no longer taste good to you.

Give the bread as a gift, give the bread a star spot at your invitations, point out which bakery the bread came from on your Instagram picture. Good bread is not only a staple food but also a culture – since 2014 even recognized as an intangible UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Photography: © GloriousMe