Bread

Bread is a baked staple made from flour, water, salt, and leavening shaped into loaves, rolls, or flat rounds. It offers a tender crumb with a crust that ranges from soft to deeply browned and crackly; flavors run from neutral to gently wheaty. Cooks use it for sandwiches and toast, to make breadcrumbs and croutons, to thicken soups or bind meat mixtures, and as a base for stuffings and bread puddings. Common retail forms include sliced pan loaves, baguettes, rolls, and flatbreads.

Leavened wheat breads emerged in ancient Egypt and the broader Fertile Crescent and spread throughout Europe, the Middle East, and beyond. Regional traditions range from airy pan loaves and baguettes to dense ryes and unleavened flatbreads, with modern production spanning home baking to large commercial bakeries.