A Guide To The Many Types Of Bread

CALZONE
Calzone, the Italian word for “stocking,” is a turnover made from pizza dough, stuffed with mozzarella and ricotta cheeses (different cheeses and other ingredients such as meat and vegetables can be added), and deep-fried. In the U.S., it is often served with a marinara sauce for dipping.

CHALLAH
Challah is a braided, sweetened egg bread that is part of the celebration of the Jewish Sabbath. The word refers to a tithe of bread that was given to the priests, who had no income; a portion of the dough was sanctified and tithed, the remainder was given over for ordinary consumption. Jewish custom requires that Sabbath and holiday meals begin with challah. Here’s the challah recipe for the bread in the photo at right.

CIABATTA
An Italian wheat loaf with a porous crumb, made with yeast. It is baked in a variety of styles, depending on the region—the crispness of the crust and the density of the crumb will vary. Some are seasoned with marjoram or rosemary, some made with olive oil or milk. The unusual elongated, flat shape gives it its name—ciabatta means carpet slipper—and it can be recognized by the dusting of flour on the top. It is a popular sandwich bread, used for panini. Some artisan bakers make the “carpet slipper” in a ring form.

CORNBREAD
Corn, a grain indigenous to America, is milled into cornmeal, which can be baked into bread. There are several types of cornbread. The earliest is a skillet bread (also known as hoecake), made from cornmeal, egg and buttermilk and fried in a fat, then baked in the oven. The result is a cake-like bread with a large, dense crumb and a crunchy crust. This bread will tend to be dense, meant more as an accompaniment than as a bread meant to stand on its own. Corn pone is a cornbread made of a thick cornmeal dough that is baked or fried. Johnnycakes are batter-based, skillet-fried cornbread similar to pancakes. Cornmeal is also used to make standard bread loaves.

CORN PONE
See cornbread.

CRACKER
A small, crisp breadlike product. The cracker is an American invention; the first cracker-like product was made in 1792 by John Pearson of Newburyport, Massachusetts, who mixed flour and water into “pilot bread.” The long shelf life was popular with sailors, who called it hardtack and sea biscuits. The name “cracker” evolved from the crackling noise when another Massachusetts baker, Josiah Bent, burned a batch of biscuits in his oven in 1801. Years later, he sold his business to the company that became Nabisco. Crackers are made of flour, water and salt; some have other seasonings, but unlike bread, there is no leavening. There are many styles, which include cheese crackers, oyster crackers for soup, saltines and matzoh-like water biscuits. See reviews of our favorite gourmet crackers.

CRISPBREAD
Crispbread was invented in Scandinavia in medieval times, baked in Sweden and Finland to preserve the wheat crop over the long, cold winters. Originally from rye flour, salt and water, today there are varieties made from all the major grains. Some are available in large, decorative rounds, good for parties; most are available in cracker-size portions. Crispbreads are also called flatbreads, but this confuses the term with the many soft flatbreads (pita, tortillas, etc.); so crispbread is the preferred term. Read our review of Wasa crispbread and crispbread recipes.

CROISSANT
A rich, buttery, crescent-shaped roll made of puff pastry that layers yeast dough with butter (known as laminating). Stories of the roll being made in the shape of the crescent of the Turkish flag, after the defeat of the Turks in the Siege of Vienna in 1683, are a perpetuated myth. Recipes for croissants do not appear in recipe books until the early 1900s, according to the Oxford Companion To Food, and the earliest French reference is in 1853. Traditionally a breakfast bread served with jam and butter, in the early 1970s, croissants became sandwich substitutes as they evolved from their two traditional fillings, chocolate and almond paste, into many savory variations, from broccoli to ham and cheese, as well as additional sweet varieties. Pain au chocolat is sometimes erroneously called a chocolate croissant.

CROUTON
Crouton has two meanings. The first is a small cube (no more than half an inch) of rebaked bread, often seasoned, that is added to salads, soups and other dishes for flavor and texture. The word derives from the French croûte, crust. The second is a small slice of toasted bread, used as a base for canapés, for spreads and dips, and as a bread accompaniment to soups and salads.