Getting your Daily Bread

Cyn, I find this so amusing! When I last went to Iceland, also Scandanavia, with friends, they were really overwhelmed with such delicious bread! One even sent me a photo of her US breakfast toast, looking decidedly pale and seedless on the plate, with the caption, "What's missing?". Heel or no heel, that is the question. Now, if I'm hand slicing a loaf of bread, all day long, I'm a heel girl! Especially if it's nice and crusty and perfect with a dollop of butter. But, for a standard loaf, such as we have in the States, I rarely eat that slice. But, I always thought that the heel stays in the bag to cover the surface of the next slice, prevent it from getting too much air, and keep it fresher. No? So, for my vote, the heel would have been put in my bag and taken home, whether or not I intended to ultimately eat it.

Stupid question, but, was the bread priced by the kilo? I mean, I suppose in that case, if someone knew they weren't going to eat it, it'd make sense not to pay for it? I'm grasping... it makes no sense to me, either.

What bothers me more than throwing away the bread is the fact that it's being dumped in a trash can. If it was being composted, I wouldn't mind so much. Was there any mention of that?

I don't see that in Germany at the bread slicing machine. Maybe Germans eat the heel? I always have, in the US and here.

Personally, am not fond of those French baguettes. It is a rather insipid sort of bread when compared to the 300 kinds of German bread, Icelandic Rye, fresh Spanish bread, a soft pita, etc. Some of the best bread I have had was the rye bread in Iceland and loaves of bread from the Roman fort (the Saalburg) near Bad Homburg. I think it has cumin in it, but it is fabulous. They only bake it twice a week in stone ovens.

It's funny, I don't care too much for a baguette (or a tradition) either. And I really can't abide a baguette sandwich - I HATE all that gnawing (and prospective damage to the roof of one's mouth).

Give me a nice robust loaf anytime.

My husband gets mad at me because I don't eat the heel. If he's around he tries to insist.

I don't buy bread in a store very often, usually the (very few) ingredients go into my ancient Panasonic bread maker and 5 hours later poof great bread. I let it rest for at least 12 hours before slicing - which I do with my Kenwood meat slicer, then either into the sandwiches or into the freezer. Cheap, very tasty. Heels and all.

My favourite bread when travelling is German Brötchen, sliced in half and stuffed. Or in Bavaria, Semmel. (for Cyn's benefit - Semmel is not related to semolina ;-) )

I love bread heels, especially those delicious fresh baked breads on the breakfast table at hotels in all the Alpine countries.

My cousin married a Japanese girl, and she relates this story her father told her. He was a soldier in WWII stationed in Manchuria. At the war's end, they had to surrender to the Russians and spend a year in a POW camp. Rations were on the slim side to say the least. When it came time to divvy up the bread, the heel was perceived as being the most nutritious part of the bread, so much so that they had to play gambling games to see who got to eat the heels.

And what's up with the bread in Venice? More like Wonder bread, than the delicious breads in the rest of Italy.

I like the heel; it's tastier.

My favorite place for hotel breakfasts is Norway because I've always had access to many interesting breads there (they use a lot of whole grains). I avoid paying for hotel breakfasts when I can, so I haven't experienced very many of them outside the Nordic and Baltic Countries and Turkiye. The breads served at my three Turkish hotels was distinctly mediocre.

I've had some very poor bread at Italian restaurants. In some regions there's no salt in the bread. While I understand the historic reason (salt tax centuries ago), I think that's an aspect of life that could use modernization.

Two restaurants I visited in Riga, Latvia, actually served me baskets containing a quite a variety of bread. I revisited those restaurants as much for the bread baskets as for the (quite nice) rest of the food.

Definitely a heel lover.
In fact, pita and english muffins (kinda all heel 😁) are some of my favorites.

I've had some very poor bread at Italian restaurants. In some regions there's no salt in the bread. While I understand the historic reason (salt tax centuries ago), I think that's an aspect of life that could use modernization.

Amen to that! Much Italian bread is terrible the second day as a result.

I love the idea of having a bread slicer to be used by the consumer. I had to pay CHF 2.00 to have that done in Wengen while in France and Italy it is free.

There’s not much better than a baguette with French butter. Reason enough to go to France.

I'm rolling my eyes at the bread-slicing charge in Switzerland. Ridiculous.

I had a friend who shared my enthusiasm for heels and crusty bread in general. He would say that he likes "a bread that fights back when you bite it".

I wish neighborhood bakeries were a thing where I live, but the reality is daily bread is not a part of most meals any more. Hence the soft squishy loaves that last for two weeks. A special treat is the $9 loaf of "Italian" bread from a bakery downtown, who refuses to slice bread for customers, because they say it will keep longer uncut.

Definitely a heel-eater. I do hope those heels aren't actually thrown away. A disgraceful waste, if so. Certainly there are plenty of birds and farm animals eager to have them, not to mention hungry humans (not from the wastebasket). Does anyone know what actually happens to them?

I don't care for heels, but I definitely won't throw them away whether the heel is from a loaf bread (the yucky kind we get in the US) or from a whole loaf that I slice at a store. I will eat the heels, but again, don't care for them.

I always eat the heel, but I tend to save it for last, combining it with the last regular slice in the loaf. I was horrified by the thought of all those heels just sitting in the garbage. I will have to look the next time I am in a store with a bread slicer to see if people are doing the same thing here. As was mentioned, I think it should at least go into compost. I still eat bread about every other day, either toast or making a sandwich to take to work (yes I physically go to an office every day!). In Europe I do like the baguettes with cheese, I have to say. But I tend to indulge and gravitate more toward the pastry--croissants, scones, etc.

Re European breads, give me German. Dark and/or whole grain in particular. And pretzels/pretzel breads.

To set minds at ease, in many countries, anything that is food goes into a separate trash bin. In Germany it is called re-food. They pick it up every day from restaurants and stores. It is heated at high temps and sold to pig farmers.
Anything bio-degradable goes into a different bin and this is used to make compost. Every apt, every store, has these bins.

Not sure what is happening in the grocery store but all of my Scandinavian family buys their bread in whole loaves and slices as needed at home. That is also what we did at home here in Canada with my Norwegian dad and still do. Hotel breakfasts in Norway often have whole loaves of non-white bread with a dish towel placed over the loaf while you cut your own slices.

”How do you like your bread?” There’s hardly anything made with flour that I don’t love. A definite “yes” to French baguettes, any country’s dark brown or thick seedy bread, eggy type bread, etc.

I’m very disappointed to hear the heels of the bread are wasted and aren’t taken home to use. Those can easily be used for croutons, filler in meatloaf, or crumbs to top a casserole.

I love bread and the crustier the better. I didn’t care for the bread baked in the ground in Iceland in thermal vents. We were on a private tour when our guide stopped the jeep in the middle of nowhere and pulled the bread out of the ground. It was very interesting but not tasty at all.

A possibility on those bread heels being left behind is that on a slicing machine, being the ends, they tend to fall down or between into the machine and are not retrieved.

Certainly there are plenty of birds and farm animals eager to have them

Bread shouldn't be given to birds. It's nutritionally poor for them and as they fill up on it they're losing out on nutrients gained from far more appropriate food.

I bake a lot of bread and I love to have a slightly warm, crusty heel slathered with butter and topped with a nice, strong cheese. On the occasions when I buy a pre-sliced commercial loaf I leave the heel in the bag to cover the exposed slice so that it doesn't dry out.

Not to be contrary, but certainly at the bakery on the end of our street, there is a small charge for getting a loaf sliced (maybe 10 or 20 centimes) — and I know it’s charged at at least some other bakeries.

I usually take my bread home in a loaf, so don’t usually get it sliced - but have done so sometimes, and I pay the little extra to get it done when so.

JC--Bread shouldn't be given to birds. It's nutritionally poor for them and as they fill up on it they're losing out on nutrients gained from far more appropriate food.

That's for sure. Whenever I see parents with their kids feeding bread to waterfowl or people at the waterfront throwing French fries in the air for gulls it drives me crazy. That's not what they are supposed to eat! But say something to the people, particularly parents with kids, and you get major blowback.

To set minds at ease, in many countries, anything that is food goes into a separate trash bin. In Germany it is called re-food. They pick it up every day from restaurants and stores. It is heated at high temps and sold to pig farmers.
Anything biodegradable goes into a different bin and this is used to make compost. Every apt, every store, has these bins.

Thanks, Ms. Jo--good to know! We compost just about all food here. Vegetable scraps are composted for the garden, egg shells are ground up and fed to the hens with their feed, and all other food scraps are taken to the county's composting site where they are heated at high temps as in Germany. Unfortunately, we are in the minority, as many places in the US do not compost non-biodegradable food scraps and they are put in the garbage with the rest of the trash.

The only thing even similar to American white bread that I can find in my Budapest market is called "Toast" even though it's not toast.

My favorite bread, without question, is the Scandinavian Rye. Oh geez, will have to go back just for that! My DH, a very good bread maker, tried his best to recreate that loaf for me, without success. Maybe it needs to come with a 22 hour day and views of the sea. DH loves the heels as well, not for me.

We compost just about all food here. Vegetable scraps are composted for the garden, egg shells are ground up and fed to the hens with their feed, and all other food scraps are taken to the county's composting site where they are heated at high temps as in Germany

Mardee I'm surprised you don't put your eggshells in with normal garden compost. I do. But we treat - or don't treat actually - our eggs differently to in the US from what I've read so maybe treated eggshells would be less good in the organic compost. hmmm?

@Nigel, it isn't that the eggshells can't be composted, it is that the chickens benefit from reclaiming all of the calcium in the eggs that they laid.

I don't have chickens, just eat their eggs and meat and compost the shells

Nigel I compost my egg shells as I don’t have chickens.

Had some good breads in Poland.

Great news! Because of this thread, DH is giving Scandinavian bread another try. He is starting on it tonight. Tomorrow evening I will let you know how it is. Anticipation......

Interesting to see everything you “well-heeled” (or not) folks have posted!

I hope the latest bread turned out well, vandabrud. I’ve just turned out a pretty successful loaf of “Norwegian” rye myself. Following a particular recipe, I had to track down a number of special flours, plus pumpkin seeds, and use a Pullman Loaf pan, with as sliding lid. The resulting loaf weighed over 4 pounds (nearly 2 kg), as it’s dense, and full of seeds.

I’m not crazy about the outer skins of the pumpkin seeds, but the others are a fantastic addition. The rye taste and aroma are fabulous, too … I’m cutting one slice at a time, though!

@Cyn,
We actually had all of the necessary ingredients and the special bread pan, but he substituted beet syrup for molasses. The loaf he made was also dense and heavy. It smelled wonderful and looked the part. The crust and outer parts of the loaf were delicious, but alas the center was a bit gummy and underbaked. It was the best effort so far, though.

I sense a more perfect loaf in my future.

Our chickens got a special treat when they ended up with the imperfect product.

Happy chickens, even if the bread wasn’t perfect - sounds like still a good result!

My bread came out of the oven, and the recipe said to not cut it for 24 hours. I believe that was to permit the center to continue to cook, with the heat that needed to make it through the dense loaf. Now, two days out of the oven, I haven’t cut into the very center of the long loaf, though, so we’ll see if it's done through, all the way.

I had to pay CHF 2.00 to have that done in Wengen while in France and
Italy it is free.

It's not a charge, its a fine. Bread is not supposed to be cut until the moment that you are going to eat it. 2 CHF is a actually mild punishment for your infraction. You should have been run out of town ...

Just kidding, but I always get a chuckle when someone calls something "the best thing since sliced bread". Isn't everything?

It's not a charge, its a fine. Bread is not supposed to be cut until the moment that you are going to eat it. 2 CHF is a actually mild punishment for your infraction. You should have been run out of town ...

WengenK, that’s hilarious! Uncut bread is the anathema of toast lovers.

Uncut bread is the anathema of toast lovers

Toast is anathema to good bread :-)

(I buy bread at the local baker in Wengen regularly. A load rarely lasts a day...)

@Nigel, it isn't that the eggshells can't be composted, it is that the chickens benefit from reclaiming all of the calcium in the eggs that they laid.

What vandrabrud said. 😊 I put the dried eggshells in an old food processor then add them to the chicken feed. It gives them more calcium, thereby making the eggshells harder. Some people give their hens oyster shells ground up, but that gets expensive.

If we didn't have chickens, we would definitely compost the eggshells. They are very good for the soil. But so is chicken poop. 😊

18:00 O clock. And those unsold breads are yours for near nothing. But please be pleasant, not picky and pay in cash: Just like all the locals do. :)

18:00 O clock. And those unsold breads are yours for near nothing. But please be pleasant, not picky anday in cash: Just like all the locals do. :)

@Francis, my local bakery opens in the afternoon from 18:00-20:30. No discounts, but sometimes I will get an extra something, as a regular. Paying in cash is one of our topics of conversation, as the bakery is very near the touristy part of town and lots of people try to pay by card.

In Spain, it is pan de molde, the basic white bread loaf. This they will pass through the slicer.

The other breads leave the store whole. Some even get home whole.

My favorite bread, without question, is the Scandinavian Rye.

Just a small reminder that there are many kinds of rye bread in Scandinavia…