Brot—An Obsession

Oh, the smell: Fresh. Inviting. Tasty. Do you remember how it feels when the smell of fresh bread is filling the whole room, coming from the kitchen table?

This mouthwatering experience is a sensation that you can have at home almost every morning. You take a fresh roll and your knife. And then comes the sound: The crackle, the splintering—when the sharp steel slices through the crust and cuts the roll in half. Then again:  the smell—rising from the two warm halves, now irresistible. And then finally the taste: your mouth fills with the distinct combination of crunchy and moist, the crumbs, especially when paired with a luscious spread of fresh butter. The taste of grain, combined with chunks of nuts or seeds. The colour: dark outside, lighter within. Amazing.

I'm not just a lover of bread: I am a connoisseur.

Just some of the many kinds of bread specialities in Germany
Image | Holger Zimmer

Fresh from the oven: I cannot resist this bread.
Image | Holger Zimmer

And as I come from Germany, I'm not alone with my deep rooted fascination. In Germany we boast more than 3,200 types of bread and maybe a million different forms of bread rolls—all made with very distinct and different ingredients depending on the region. We call them: Brötchen Schrippe, Semmel, Schusterjunge, Weckle, or even Seele (soul). The most common difference hails from soil and grain: In the north, the German the favourite is rye bread, and if you come further south then you will encounter more wheat and so called Brezn.

Out of the estimated fifteen thousand bakeries existing in Germany, about half are part of the old Baker's Guild and they follow recipes that have been tried and tested for hundreds and hundreds of years. Tradition here is paramount, when it comes to the making of bread in Germany. Bäckergesellen—the baker´s apprentices—still today leave their hometown and take to the road, to go auf Wanderschaft. Three years and one day travelling and working, from one baker to another, they hone their craft of making quality bread.

Here, we worship the dark and crunchy Kruste—the crust. Germany, unlike other countries,does not believe in stale stuff some call Toastbrot. To us, this fluffy pale mess is rather an insult to our taste buds than a piece of bread. Our love for bread and its many varieties is even recognized by UNESCO as an intrinsic part of the German cultural heritage called Brotkultur.

Brotkultur—an essential part of the German heritage
Image | Holger Zimmer

Here in Germany you can be a sandwich artist. Every German child remembers his parents preparing wonderful Pausenbrote, those layered bread packages to eat in school during lunch breaks. My girlfriend still remembers, among other things I hope, the Klappstullen I made for our first vacation together. Our love of bread has even permeated into the language itself. If you are invited to a German family for dinner it is officially called Abendbrot or Evening Bread.

So, fancy a bite of the gutes dunkles Brot? Then come and visit me in Germany. Guten Appetit!

Fun facts:
• Did you know that Bruce Willis was seduced in Berlin? He took a loaf of German bread home to the US after visiting!

• Did you know that when Berlin´s oldest bakery, Bäcker Siebert, dating from 1906, opens on Saturday morning? Their fame for quality has spread so far and wide that customers queue around the block. They wait in line, sometimes for almost an hour, for the best bread and cake. 

• Bread mainly consists of the same three ingredients as beer: water, yeast, grains. Any wonder that we Germans love it? 

•We even have a Bread-Sommelier. Take that, France!