Passage III

It's All a Matter of Taste

My aunt learned to bake bread from her grandfather, and she wants to teach me to make what she calls "artisan bread," another name for handcrafted bread. The bread my aunt bakes is fantastic, and I am eager to learn to make such delicious bread. My mother, though, argues the merit's of the mass-produced, commercially made bread that you can buy in any supermarket. The two of them have kept this friendly disagreement going for as long as I can remember.

Although artisan bread is made by hand instead of by machine, artisan loaves can be irregular in shape. Artisan bread's "crumb"—crumb is the term bakers use to describe the soft inner part of bread—has many holes of various sizes. The crumb of commercial loaves, on the other hand, is typically tight, with tiny, mostly uniform holes. My aunt points out that since the holes in the crumb of artisan bread are caused by the water in the dough, they indicate that the bread will be moist, with a full, rich flavor. However, my mother reminds us that bread with a tight crumb won't fall apart when you make a sandwich with it.

My aunt prefers sandwiches made with artisan bread. By increasing the amount of water in the dough and then the dough ferments for several hours, bakers at home can produce loaves with crunchy, delicious crusts. My aunt notes that many people cut off the crusts of commercial breads because it don't taste good. My mother counters with a complaint that the thick crusts of handmade bread can be hard to chew.

My mother thinks baking bread takes longer to be worth the effort. Stores offer breads ranging from very light in color to very dark and from very soft to very firm; the variety is endless. When you find a type you especially like, she reminds us, one can count on each loaf tasting the same.

Otherwise, I want my aunt to teach me to bake artisan breads, and some of her great cupcakes, too, but I doubt that I'Il ever give up eating my favorite commercial breads. As my stepfather says, "It's all a matter of taste, and it's all great!"