It Takes Bread To Buy Bread

As I did with beers when I became old enough to drink, I now am sampling different breads now that I care about the quality of ingredients in the sandwiches I make. I don't want to give the impression that I will settle for nothing less than the best. I definitely will settle for less than the best of breads and other ingredients, but I will now at least no longer be content with the absolute worst breads that the grocery store offers.

There is an astonishing array available at the mid to high quality level. At the very cheapest price, there is only white bread and wheat, with the latter probably offering only a different coloring and not a higher level of nutrition. When you go up a little, there are countless options, each looking and tasting different, not to mention having different nutritional content. I make decisions mainly on the first two points, as you might guess.

It seems that the most reliable choice so far has been rye. It goes with all the mustard I have now, and it toasts well. By that I mean that it does not burn at normal levels and also occupies little enough space that I can do two slices at once. It also does well enough when it is not not toasted. I would like to try more ryes, and also to accompany them with perhaps more traditional meats than turkey. I'd like to have some corned beef next.

I've always liked sourdough, and that works well according to the same criteria except that the slices are too big for the toaster oven. It's a minor quibble. Perhaps the flavor I like best right now is the Hawaiian bread, but it has problems of its own. It fits within the toaster but seems to burn easily anyway. Worse, it clashes with the mustard and requires that I keep mayonnaise. Still, it's a nice selection to mix things up with.

That about accounts for what is available at what I'm presently prepared to spend. I now am testing out more adventurous possibilities with meats (now turkey, soon to be ham) and cheeses (lately mild cheddard, sharp cheddar, monterrey jack and currently muenster). I have not as yet formulated my thoughts fully on those, but rest assured I will do so if I determine that there is the least interest from anyone in hearing them.