Scordo went on to say that those who wished for quality bread but couldn't find it baked their own bread. I'll have to say that since I started baking my own bread, I have a much more difficult time eating the poor quality stuff that comes from the store. My bread still isn't great, but it's a lot better than anything I can buy.Vince Scordo wrote:Like pasta (or noodles) and beans, bread is a staple food product found in most food cultures on the planet and cultures that place high worth on staple food products seem to have the very best food on the planet. Examples include France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Japan, Greece, etc.
Specifically, the cultures of France and Italy place great importance on well made bread and it can be found on the dinner tables of both the old and new generations living in Europe. Elevating the status of bread in any given cultures yields the production of outstanding breads of all shapes and sizes (there's no magic formula, if people have high standards then only the best product will make it to market).
In the United States, we don't place much value on consuming great bread (our values are centered on capitalist goings on) and outside of the larger cities and a few random locations you'll be hard pressed to find airy, crusty, and fresh bread.
It seems that in the US, we don't place much value on consuming great anything. Michael Pollan has written about the absence of a food culture in the US. But we do have a food culture. It is cheap, fast, and, unfortunately, lacking in quality. And it's making us sick and fat.