The day I realized all my old takes on bread were way off

I used to swear by store-bought sandwich bread, the soft squishy kind that lasts two weeks. Then my buddy brought over a loaf he baked at home from a sourdough starter he’d kept alive for 5 years. One bite and I felt embarrassed for every argument I’d made about how “bread is bread.” Over the next month, I tried three different local bakeries in Portland and each one showed me what I’d been missing. The texture, the crust, the smell... it’s like I’d been eating cardboard but calling it dinner. Now I can’t even look at a plastic bag of sliced white bread without feeling like a fool. Has anyone else had a moment where a simple food totally flipped your opinion like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

wade8715d agoMost Upvoted

Dude that's totally fair. Not every sandwich needs to be a jaw workout, and wonder bread has its place for sure. It's like choosing between a comfy old hoodie and a fancy wool coat - both work, just for different moods.

ellis.faith5d ago

see I gotta be the one to push back on this because honestly I think the hype around artisan bread is kind of overblown. I grew up on that squishy store bought stuff too and you know what? It got me through lunch every single day without falling apart or getting rock hard by 3pm. my wife bought a $9 loaf from some trendy bakery downtown last week and it was stale by the next morning, meanwhile my $2.50 wonder bread is still soft on day 8. yeah the crust is nice on fresh baked but sometimes I just want my sandwich to not require jaw muscles to bite through, and that plastic bag bread delivers on that every time.

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paige3315d ago

lol the "require jaw muscles" part got me. i used to hate how heavy artisan bread felt too until i started lightly toasting it for sandwiches. makes the crust less of a workout but you still get that flavor. also i learned to store it cut side down on the counter instead of the fridge, keeps it from going stale so fast. but honestly not every sandwich needs to be a workout, i still keep a bag of soft bread around for when i just want something easy.