Bread

Since it has been cloudy, cold, and rainy here for a solid week now and it doesn't look like it's going to clear up for almost another week, I decided to write a post about my favorite breads (which is a post that I don't have to get outside to take pictures for).

My first favorite bread is Zopf. Zopf is a braided bread that the Swiss make on Sundays and holidays. It reminds me a bit of egg or challah bread in appearance, except it's lighter (it doesn't use much butter or fat). It is somewhat sweet, but not too sweet. Just sweet enough that you can't stop eating it. Or at least I can't when I have one in my hands. I have been researching Zopf recipes because we will have an oven in our new apartment (which we move into next week!) and I plan to try to perfect the art of making Zopf from scratch.

Bakeries and grocery stores here sell Zopf on Saturdays (as most stores are closed on Sundays so you have to stock up on Zopf on Saturday) but a few stores sell Zopf all week long for us foreigners who can't wait until Saturday to eat it.

So here are a few pictures of Zopf:





If anybody is interested in the recipe, there are lots on the internet. I could just ask some Swiss people here how to make it, as almost all of them have a family recipe, but I'll just start with some internet recipes for my first few tries and see how they come out.

My other favorite bread here I call pretzel bread. It's basically the same thing as a soft warm pretzel, except in a loaf of bread. So it has a slightly tough outside to it (it doesn't have salt drizzled on it) and then it's all warm and soft on the inside and a little salty. There is salt baked into the inside of it. Just a little bit, so it's just like a fresh pretzel, only bigger.





So those are my two favorite breads here. Other than croissants, of course. Those go without saying.