Bread & Butter

Maybe the reason why I’m a bit overwhelmed by all the different kinds of breads to choose from at the supermarket is that I grew up eating tortillas with my meals. Sure, there have been a few exceptions. When my sister was a small child, she survived on toasted Wonder bread and melted margarine, and I had sliced bread sandwiches that Mom packed in my sack lunches. But the phenomenon that is the Migros bread section goes way beyond sliced bread, though they have that too and call it “toast.”

My dear friends, it goes beyond hot dog and hamburger buns at picnics, Challah loaves on Friday nights, your five options at build-your-own sub sandwich shops, and bread sticks from pizza joints. In any given Swiss supermarket or bakery you can find rolls, buns, loaves, and pastries of all different shapes, sizes, colors, and ingredients – all complete with their very own name. In addition to The Queso Suizo Project, I'll be trying different loaves, pastries, and bread products in order to find my favorites.

By the way, if ever we’ve needed a good bread knife it’s now, as the lovely loaves never come pre-sliced. In San Diego, I had a $3 bread knife from Target that made its appearance a few times a year when I would bring home fresh bagels, or the occasional loaf from Bread & Cie for a special meal I was preparing. Here in Switzerland we have a sturdy Victorinox bread knife, which never actually gets put away.