Does bread dominate your diet?

[epicuric]

Some cultures are more reliant on bread than others. Here in the UK it is common to eat toasted bread for breakfast, and a sandwich for lunch. Decades ago it was even common to have buttered bread as a side to an evening meal.

During the winter months I find it difficult not to gravitate towards something on toast for breakfast - eggs, beans, mushrooms, tomatoes etc. Cold cereals or fruit simply don't appeal. Likewise at lunchtime - a healthy salad on a cold winter day is never going to win over a comforting fully stacked sandwich.

How much does bread feature in your diet?

 

[Morning Glory]

I love bread and it does feature a lot in this house. I'd be rather lost without it!

Decades ago it was even common to have buttered bread as a side to an evening meal.

I think it still happens in some cafes - particularly good if you are having chips because you can make a chip butty!

In France it always used to be the case that a basket of French bread was placed on the table for every meal. I don't know if it is still as I haven't been for decades. Also in restaurants here there is very often bread and pats of butter placed on the table before the meal arrives. In fact, I've come across this in Michelin star restaurants.

 

[Windigo]

Bread does not dominate my diet, but it's present daily. I have toast for breakfast each morning for as long as I can remember and I don't plan on changing it. In my culture eating bread for breakfast and lunch is the norm, not so much for dinner.

I have bread for lunch about every other day, and it's usually artisan bread or french bread I eat at that time because I don't like the Dutch tradition of a stack of plain sandwiches every day. (I wrote about that in another thread). The other days I either eat leftovers from the day before or I will have a snack or salad of some sort. Eating bread twice every day would be too boring for me.

 

[epicuric]

In France it always used to be the case that a basket of French bread was placed on the table for every meal. I don't know if it is still as I haven't been for decades. Also in restaurants here there is very often bread and pats of butter placed on the table before the meal arrives.

This is the case in Cyprus too, but not French bread, obviously!

Bread does not dominate my diet, but it's present daily. I have toast for breakfast each morning for as long as I can remember and I don't plan on changing it. In my culture eating bread for breakfast and lunch is the norm, not so much for dinner.

Same here. I would prefer to vary breakfasts a bit more, but anything other than wholemeal toast or a protein (bacon & eggs) based breakfast will leave me hungry again by mid morning.

 

[Windigo]

but anything other than wholemeal toast or a protein (bacon & eggs) based breakfast will leave me hungry again by mid morning.

Yeah, I have to eat toast + oatmeal or yoghurt + muesli every morning to fill me up, it's the same for me. Our country considers eggs on toast a treat, so we usually only have some type of scrambled egg or fried egg on sundays. I guess it's a remnant of Calvinism which has a strong hold on our country till the present day. But I also would not be able to eat eggs & bacon for breakfast every day, it just doesn't appeal to me. I guess it's something you grow up with or not.

 

[TastyReuben]

Absolutely. I have bread with virtually every meal, and if I need a snack, that's frequently bread as well (toast, etc).

Restaurants here nearly always include bread of some sort as a side as well.

 

[medtran49]

We don't eat a lot of bread anymore, just got out of the habit for some reason.

 

[MypinchofItaly]

My diet is dominated by bread, it is part of our tradition. It is very present, in any form, white, whole wheat or durum wheat semolina. Not to mention pizza and focaccia, the latter is also often used as a bread substitute.
When I don't have the time or the desire to do it myself, I buy it, but in general it is difficult for bread to be missing on my table or on Italian tables.
We do not have the custom of buttering it and serving it this way, instead it is cut into slices and placed in its special basket as it is, and it is placed from the beginning of the meal to usually accompany the main courses and to grant us the final 'scarpetta' in the sauce, or to eat a little while waiting for the meal.

Or we prepare bruschette as starters.

In addition to being great bakers, in Italy there is also a long tradition of recycling old bread, with which to make bread soups or salads (for example the Tuscan Panzanella), or even bread cakes (it seems to me that even in the UK there are bread-cakes)

Yes, bread is part of my culture and tradition and frankly it is one of those things I would never give up, although I follow a balanced diet in taking carbohydrates. Personally I avoid eating it every day or several times a day, I would not be able to tolerate it, at least as much as I could not tolerate not having it!

 

[Mountain Cat]

Very little bread here. I do buy and eat bread from real bakeries (as opposed to the supermarket stuff). When winter really settles in I will go back to making bread myself again - I used to make a great onion-loaf!

I was eating largely Paleo for several years (no grains, no legumes), although even then I made exceptions. Frankly, I felt a lot better without what turned out to be "supermarket" bread and grain products.

There's a lot of bread I have little tolerance for: buns for burgers or sandwiches or breakfast meals. The bread to food ratio is way off, for me. And they don't tend to add to the flavor profile at all. (Yep, read the ingredient list... when I do have bread, I seriously prefer it to be home-made, or from a genuine bakery!) For me, a lettuce wrap around a burger is still highly preferable to bread - even quality bread. Taste and everything else.

Bread is incidental to my life. Too much of it wants to apply itself to my waist! And as noted, there are foods out there that taste so much better to begin with, so if anything is going to be allowed to wrap around my waist, I want a better flavor profile that most breads can provide.

 

[Mountain Cat]

Yeah, I have to eat toast + oatmeal or yoghurt + muesli every morning to fill me up, it's the same for me. Our country considers eggs on toast a treat, so we usually only have some type of scrambled egg or fried egg on sundays. I guess it's a remnant of Calvinism which has a strong hold on our country till the present day. But I also would not be able to eat eggs & bacon for breakfast every day, it just doesn't appeal to me. I guess it's something you grow up with or not.

I could eat eggs 3-4 times a week, but not bacon remotely that often. At home, I never have toast or bread for breakfast (when I go out to diners there may be toast). Frequently, my breakfasts are simply leftovers from various meals earlier in the week. They won't look like "breakfast" at all to folk.

In the winter, I do like oatmeal. REAL oatmeal, not that instant stuff. About once or twice a month, I make pancakes.

I cannot eat a HIGH glycemic carb breakfast without going dizzy. It is best that i skip breakfast all together if the only option is Carb/Continental. (Seriously, you wouldn't want me behind the steering wheel of a car!)

 

[Morning Glory]

I could eat eggs 3-4 times a week, but not bacon remotely that often.

I could eat eggs every day and often do. Bacon less so. But bread has to be with eggs usually - to dip in the runny yolks.

 

[Mountain Cat]

I could eat eggs every day and often do. Bacon less so. But bread has to be with eggs usually - to dip in the runny yolks.

I usually prefer not to dip bread into my runny yolks. I'll drizzle it over cooked spinach or maybe whatever else I'm having at breakfast - or just get out a spoon and eat it as is, maybe a dash of ground pepper.

I have been known to eat eggs near-daily - I've slowed down with my hens own slow-down, wanting to save some of these oval gifts for local folk. (It's temporary. )

 

[Elawin]

I'll sometimes have toast with a boiled or poached egg for breakfast and usually have a sandwich at lunch time. I always have bread of some description with a curry, stew or soup, and once a fortnight or so I'll make a pizza. The only time I ever have butter on my bread is if it is toasted (and then the toast must be hot but the butter not melted) or when I've made some bread, when I cut off a slice to test the loaf - well that's my excuse. I make all my own bread, and a small loaf lasts me 2 or 3 days. The only times I eat shop-bought bread are when I'm at my daughter's or if I am out somewhere, but in this case I try to go to a café attached to an artisan bakers.

 

[HappyFoodGeek]

Bread used to, but not anymore. The only carb I really have is rice. Bread's great, don't get me wrong, but over the last few years my consumption has really decreased.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

How much does bread feature in your diet?

We could easily live off bread as we have done in the past.

When we cycled everyday, bread featured as a supplement to oats for breakfast.
It was lunch and pretty much still is lunch for both of us everyday, in the form of closed sandwiches for my husband and open sandwiches for me.

Evening meal usually features bread as a supplement, usually to a soup, pasta dish or, were anything really especially if it is a meal I've made to stretch.

I make 2-3 granary loaves of bread a week at the moment. I'm looking to get that back to wholemeal but we are but enjoying the lightness behind the granary load with heat of the summer.

We don't do the soft white bread that had no substance to it. We prefer rye breads and sourdough made with wholemeal and rye, wholemeal or granary. We will also occasionally have white sourdough, but not often. Bread had to have substance to it here for it to be eaten and enjoyed. Soft white bread just doesn't cut it in this house.

One thing we do miss being in Australia, are the north German and Danish rye loaves with sunflower seeds and honey. When cycling, e could easily get through 2 loaves of bread daily and we always had an uncut loaf of bread in my panniers.

Decades ago it was even common to have buttered bread as a side to an evening meal

Buttered bread, or the alternative now I'm allergic to dairy, is still a staple here. It's used to supplement evening meals to make them more than they are. Certainly growing up, it was the normal for me so it still is the normal to use bread to mop up (the plate or bowl) if were still hungry.
Talking of which, I think I can see a loaf of bread dying during the night because I'm hungry!