Breaking Bread Houston Style
Around the world in 80+ breads
Those who live in Houston already know how diverse our city is. We see it, hear it, smell it, taste it and experience it every day. Nowhere is that diversity more evident than in the food available here. Not only do we have restaurants and food trucks serving food from almost every nation on earth, we also have a large number of stores that specialize in different ethnic foods.
In this article, I approach this diversity through one important food staple: bread. Something so basic and yet so complex. We all have memories of the bread we grew up with—the look, the feel, the taste and especially the smell of fresh-baked bread. Bread is one of those comfort foods that can create an instant connection back to an earlier time in our lives—to the place where we grew up.
Here is a selection of breads from different countries. And, in case we missed anything, be sure to let us know! Three caveats about our list: First, all the breads had to be made locally. Second, we did not cover any “sweet” breads (panes dulces). And third, nothing stuffed or filled like an empanada or a pupusa—otherwise the list would have been double the size. As it is, we found 82 different breads from 37 countries and 38 different bakeries or retail stores.
While researching breads made in Houston, one thing quickly became clear: We have some incredibly talented and dedicated bakers and some remarkable bakeries. If, after reading this article, you are salivating for a thick slice of bread slathered with some really good butter, then ditch your fear of carbs, pay a visit to the bakeries mentioned here, inhale the aroma of fresh-baked bread and yield to your cravings. You know you want to.
Afghanistan
Alvand Bakery, 13318 Westheimer Rd., Ste. 300
Afghan naan
This is the national bread of Afghanistan served at every meal. It is a large, thin, tennis-racquet-shaped flatbread that is easy to tear apart to pick up food or soak up sauce and therefore also serves as an eating utensil. The lines on the surface are all made by hand just before the dough is baked.
Taftoon (Taftan)
A fifteen-inch round, chewy, thick flatbread with indentations on top made by pressing the fingers all over the dough before baking. Also popular in Iran.
Argentina
Asturias Bakery, 3856 S. Dairy Ashford Rd.
Librito salado
From the side, this small, rectangular roll made of puff pastry looks like the pages of a small book (libro in Spanish means book). It is called salado—or salty—to distinguish it from the many sweet pastries made in this Argentine bakery.
Torta raspada
Originating in Mendoza, these flat, approximately two-inch-round rolls with a small indentation in the center get their name, which means scraped, from how they were removed from the grill on which they were prepared. They are often consumed as an afternoon snack with yerba mate.
Pan con grasa.
A small, flat, rectangular, puff pastry roll whose ends have been rolled up to resemble a scroll. Its name meaning “bread with fat”, this typical dinner roll is served at all times of the day.
Pan Cremona.
This puff pastry roll, a specialty of Cordoba, is about 8 inches round and 3 inches tall and is made in the shape of a crown with a large hole in the middle. It has a chewy interior and a golden crust so flaky that seems falls apart as soon as you look at it. The name comes from the city of the same name in northern Italy and was brought to Argentina by the many Italians who emigrated there.
Armenia
Phoenicia (various locations)
Matnakash
A thick, leavened flatbread bread whose name means “finger pull” and refers to the way the three-line design is made on top of the bread by pulling the fingers through the dough just before baking. This is topped with black and white sesame seeds and comes in two versions: a 10-inch round or an oblong measuring one by two feet.
Pideh
In Turkey, pita bread is known as pide. In Armenia, it is called pideh. It is a crispy-crusted, white-wheat-flour bread leavened with yeast and shaped in round or long, oval loaves. It is finished with a sprinkle of white sesame seeds, caraway seeds and molasses on top.
Brazil
Central Market, 3815 Westheimer Rd.
Pão de queijo
Portuguese for “cheese bread.” Made with dried yuca (cassava) or tapioca flour and eaten at breakfast or as a snack/street food. The small, round rolls, about the size of a golf ball, have a very thin outer shell and a stretchy, soft interior and are at their best right out of the oven. Similar to Argentine and Paraguayan chipas.
China
Deluxe Bakery, 12017 Bellaire Blvd.
Bao
This thin, oblong, spongy, light, white bun is extremely bland on its own. This specialty of Fujian Province in China is normally stuffed with such delicacies as pork belly or duck but here it is available plain, so that you can stuff it yourself. When steamed, this is known as mantou.
Colombia
Las Delicias Bakery, 7643 Dashwood Dr.
Pandebono
This dome-shaped cheese bread, about four inches in diameter, has a hollow interior. It is made with cornmeal, cassava starch and crumbly cheese that melts into the dough. The cassava adds a powdery texture to the exterior. It is best served warm.
Arepa
This cornmeal cake is about the same size as its Venezuelan cousin but much thicker, making it easier to slice and fill, especially with cheese. Because it is cooked on a griddle, it has lots of burnt golden spots on its surface, while the interior remains soft and yellow.
Cuba
Royal Bakery, 1841 Fairview St.
Pan Cubano
This is the white, doughy bread used to make the classic Cuban sandwich, heated and flattened on aplancha(press). It is an 18-inch-long oblong roll that has a very thin crust and is very soft inside and although this version does not contain the traditional lard, it still has lots of flavor. It is best enjoyed toasted on a griddle and stuffed.
England
Central Market, 3815 Westheimer Rd.
English muffin
What Samuel Bath Thomas brought to America in 1880 are known simply as muffins in his home country and became known as English muffins in his adopted country. The original English version is a small disk of yeast-leavened bread. The American version is denser and chewier and is leavened with baking powder.
Ethiopia
Maru Grocery, 6065 Bissonnet St.
Injera
A strong sour flavor is present in every bite of the spongy injera,the bread of choice in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia, made with fermented teff flour (an ancient grain from Africa), giving it its distinctive sour note. Belay Gemechu, the owner of Maru Grocery, and his wife make the 18-inch round, beige-colored, flat pancakes in their tiny store. The bottom surface of the bread is smooth while the top is porous and sponge-like, perfect for scooping up stews and sauces by hand. The flatbread is also used as the plate on which the food is served.
Photo 1: Ethiopian injera
Photo 2: Royal Bakery building
Photo 3: baguettes by Artisana Breads at Urban Harvest Saturday market
Photo 4: pita rolling down the conveyor belt at Phoenicia Specialty Foods
France
Magnol French Baking, 1500 N. Post Oak Rd.
Baguette
Its name means “stick.” It is the quintessential golden-brown, crusty French loaf about two feet in length. Here the artisan bakers make a sourdough version using organic flour that gives the exterior a rich golden-brown color. It is as crispy as they come with a wonderfully airy crumb.
Bâtard
Its name means “bastard” because it is neither a baguette nor a pain rond (round loaf). It is shorter, wider and flatter than a baguette, just as crispy and with a similar consistency. This version has a deep, dark-brown crust with a very airy crumb.
Pain D’Épi
The only difference between the épi and a baguette is the way the épi is cut to resemble a wheat stalk. The cuts expose even more of the loaf, essentially forming eight oval-shaped rolls, making even more desirable than a baguette from a crispiness standpoint.
Artisana Bread, 965 Pinemont Dr.
Brioche
Rich in butter, plus lots of eggs, this loaf definitely has a rich and soft white crumb. The shiny dark brown exterior is due to an egg wash used just before baking. It is an oblong loaf, about 10 inches long, that has been pre-sectioned into eight pull-apart rolls.
Germany
Central Market, 3815 Westheimer Rd.
Bavarian Rye
This large, dome-shaped loaf with what resembles a starfish design on top is made with wheat and rye flour and a good amount of sourdough starter, giving this dense and heavy loaf a unique sour flavor. The exterior is a dark brown with the interior a lighter brown and the crumb very chewy and firm.
Pretzel
A soft pretzel has a sheen and a similar chew to a bagel, since it too has been dipped in a water bath before baking. In the case of the pretzel, the water is mixed with lye, turning the exterior yellow then a deep, glossy brown when fully baked. Topped with coarse salt, it is shaped into a twisted knot with tapered ends and a thicker midsection—a shape that has represented German bakers’ guilds since the 12th century and, according to legend, resembles a person praying with crossed arms.
Pumpernickel
Made with rye, wheat and barley and hints of caraway, this large, dense, slightly sweet, intensely dark-brown, football-shaped loaf comes from Westphalia in northwestern Germany. It is often used to make open-faced sandwiches. The name originated in the 16thcentury and means “farting boor” from pumpernto pass gas and nickel from Nicholas, a name often associated with boorish figures. It got its name from how hard it was to digest.
Greece
Bread Man Baking Co., available at farmers markets and some Whole Foods locations
Greek village bread
The recipe for this bread came from Tasos Katsaounis, the bakery owner’s grandmother, so you know it’s been time-tested. This is the first loaf he ever baked commercially and he’s especially proud of it. It is a large oval sourdough loaf with a very crispy crust enhanced by a deep cut made on the top of the bread, exposing as much as possible. The crumb is soft and airy.
Kalamata olive bread
A long, oval shape with a moderately crispy crust, chewy crumb, and lots of briny, coarsely chopped, purple-black Kalamataolives and oregano make this a bread you won’t be able to stop eating.
Guatemala
El Quetzal bakery, 5939 S. Gessner Rd.
Avion
This small roll is shaped like an airplane (avionin Spanish). It is a French-style bread. The locals call it pan desabrido, or tasteless bread.
India
Bombay Bazaar, 11720 W. Airport Blvd.
Roti/chapati.
This unleavened thin flatbread is traditionally prepared on a stovetop but at this market they crank up the machine twice a day to make these discs that resemble flour tortillas in size, shape and color. The term chapati can also be used for this common bread. It comes from the Hindi and Urdu word for “to slap,” describing the hand-to-hand slapping motion used to flatten the dough.
Thepla
Popular in the Gujarat region, these are similar in size and shape to roti. They are made with wheat flour, fenugreek leaves and turmeric, which give them a yellowy-green tinge and slightly herbal taste.
Hot Breads, 5700A Hillcroft St.
Pav (pao)
Pav, a small, extremely soft, fluffy and pillowy roll, was introduced to India by the Portuguese. It is famous in Mumbai for breakfast with butter or stuffed with vada(potato fritters).
Bombay naan
Bombay naan is not made in a traditional tandoor oven but in a conventional oven. This round, flat bread is much thicker, spongier and chewier than tandoori naan. It is pre-portioned into eight pieces and easy to tear apart.
Subhlaxmi Grocers, 6606 Hillcroft
Paratha
This unleavened, thin, triangular-shaped flatbread is rolled and folded over itself a few times giving it a series of flaky layers. It is then heated on a griddle, which gives it its random dark spots.
Iran
Alvand Bakery,13318 Westheimer Rd., Ste. 300
Barbari naan (nan-e barbari)
Literally “bread of the Barbars,” from which we also get the word barbarian. This is a long, rectangular flatbread with rounded corners that measures 24 inches by 12 inches. The top is covered with sesame seeds and has a series of lines etched in the dough by hand. This bread is thicker than many other flatbreads.
Iraq
Zeyad Bakery, 8800 Richmond Ave.
Samoun
Diamond-shaped thick pocket flatbread with tapered ends, topped with sesame seeds, normally baked in stone ovens. Because it is baked at high temperature, it has a thin crust and hollow interior, which rises to form a stuffable pocket.
Tannour bread
This 18-inch round, very thin flatbread is cooked in a tandoor oven. It is pressed by hand until it is the right shape and thickness then stretched over a soft, round pad, which helps attach it to the oven wall where it cooks. The high oven heat creates air pockets and causes the bread to blister and burn all over the surface. It is removed from the oven with a hook.
Ireland
Central Market, 3815 Westheimer Rd.
Irish soda bread
Baking soda is the leavening agent used in this small, round, dense loaf made with buttermilk, which gives it a slight tangy flavor and makes it salty and sweet at the same time. It is chock full of raisins and caraway seeds and is topped off with a sprinkling of sugar after its baked.
Israel
Three Brothers Bakery (various locations)
Challah
One of the oldest bakeries in Houston, opened in 1949, still makes the six-braided challah from a 200-year-old family recipe that owner and fifth-generation baker Bobby Jucker still treasures. It gets its sheen from an egg wash brushed on just before baking. It is a large, oblong, golden loaf whose yellow interior comes from the eggs used in the dough. It is very light, soft and tender, similar to a brioche. Available plain or with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, raisins and chocolate chips. They also make a 10-pound challah, in case you need to feed a crowd.
Italy
Artisana Breads, 965 Pinemont Dr.
Ciabatta
The word means “slipper” and refers to the oblong shape of this bread. It was first baked in Verona in 1982 as an Italian answer to the baguette, and eventually became the bread of choice for panini. Long, broad and somewhat flat, this loaf has a thin, crusty exterior and a crumb that is full of holes.
Bread Man Baking Co., available at farmers markets and some Whole Foods locations
Focaccia
This thick flat bread is originally from Liguria. Its texture resembles pizza, often topped with copious amounts of olive oil, salt and rosemary. The word comes from the Latin focacius, meaning hearth, upon which it used to be baked. It is a very early type of bread, dating to the ancient Greeks. This spongy version from Bread Man Baking, a six- by eight-inch rectangle, at least two inches thick, makes excellent grilled sandwiches.
Central Market, 3815 Westheimer
Pagnotta
A round, dome-shaped, golden-colored, rustic loaf with a crisp and firm exterior and a soft, light and chewy crumb. It comes from the Umbria-Abruzzo region in central Italy and is available in small and large sizes.
Slow Dough Bakery available at Whole Foods (various locations)
Pugliese
One of the oldest rustic country breads from the Apulia region in southern Italy. It is the only Italian bread with a Protected Designation of Origin. It is a large oval loaf that has a crispy and crunchy exterior and an airy crumb. Makes wonderful toast.
Photo 1: tannour baking in the tandoor oven
Photo 2: Heath Wendell at Slow Dough Bakery.
Photo 3: red bean rolls
Photo 4: taro rolls
Jamaica
Caribbean Cuisine, 7433 Bissonnet St.
Coco bread
A soft white bread, about eight inches round, sweetened with coconut milk. It is normally folded over a Jamaican patty.
Hard dough bread (hardo)
Dense, slightly sweet, chewy, oblong loaf often used as breakfast bread.
Japan
Seiwa Market, 1801 S. Dairy Ashford Rd. #116
Shokupan
Portuguese traders brought their pão (bread) to Japan in the 15th century. Eventually pão morphed into panand shokupan,which means “eating bread,” is an oblong loaf that yields a soft, crustless square slice, perfect for sandwiches and toast. Also available here are rolls stuffed with red bean paste, cream, melon or curry.
Jordan
Zeyad Bakery, 8800 Richmond Ave.
Shrak
This Bedouin flatbread is traditionally flattened by hand and shaped like pizza dough until it is over two feet in diameter and paper thin, then cooked on a large, dome-shaped metal griddle call a saj.Here it is baked in a traditional oven.
Mexico
Arandas Bakery (various locations)
Bolillo
Wheat was introduced to Mexico by the Spanish and the bolillo was influenced by the French. It is used to make molletesopen-faced sandwiches topped with refried beans, cheese and salsa, and tortas (sandwiches). It is a six-inch long, oval roll also known as pan francéswith one slit down the middle. It is a shorter version of a French baguette with tapered ends, similar to a football in shape. It is traditionally baked in an oven with a stone floor, as they do at Arandas Bakery, which makes the exterior crisp and leaves the interior (migajón), very soft.
Cemita
Originating in Puebla, a cemita is both a roll and the name of a sandwich, which is typically stuffed with a meat filling like pork milanesa, avocado, queso blanco, chipotles and spicy salsa roja. It is a large, soft, oval-shaped roll, dusted with flour on top. Here, they make the traditional sesame-seed version, a plain one and one filled with pecans. This is also the bread used to make the famous Mexican capirotada (bread pudding).
Pan de Torta
Similar in shape to, but softer than a bolillo, with no crust, this is the bread used to make tortas(sandwiches).
Telera
Larger and flatter than the bolillo, its texture is between that of the bolillo and that of the torta. It is soft inside and out due to the addition of sugar in the dough which makes it tastes slightly sweet. It has a flour-dusted crust and is often used to make tortas.
La Reyna (various locations)
Tortillas
No matter what time you visit this store, the machine making the tortillas always seems to be turning out thick corn or flour tortillas, which are kept in a warmer and are only packaged when you order them. These eight-inch round disks are so flavorful they can be eaten plain and are sturdy enough to hold any fillings.
Nigeria
Southwest Farmers Market, 9801 Bissonnet St.
Agege bread
This is a soft, chewy, very light and slightly sweet white bread popular for breakfast and named after an area in Lagos. The oblong loaf, which does not have a crust, is sold whole and customers line up here waiting for it to come out of the oven. In Lagos, it is traditionally cooked in a wood-burning mud oven.
Palestine
Zeyad Bakery, 8800 Richmond Ave.
Pita
Palestinian pita is thicker than other versions found all over the Middle East and it is oval shaped as opposed to round in other countries. So ubiquitous is this bread in the Middle East that it is often just called Arab bread (khubz Arabi).
Taboon (tabun)
The traditional way of cooking this round, flat bread is in a taboon oven, dug into the ground or an above ground conical-shaped clay oven lined with hot coals, topped with rocks to maintain the heat. The 10-inch round flat bread is thicker than traditional pita.
Philippines
Jambeto’s Bakery and Café, 609 Dulles Ave., Ste. 750
Pandesal (pan de sal)
These are yeast rolls that contain salt but are slightly sweet, very soft and fluffy with no crust and with a fine breadcrumb topping. At her bakery, Tita Villanueva also makes pan de ube,a braided loaf stuffed with sweet purple potato; pan de mongo,stuffed with red mung beans; and pan de coco, stuffed with roasted coconut.
Poland
Polish Food Store, 1780 Blalock Rd.
Domowy chleb
Literally “homemade bread,” in this case an oval-shaped rye loaf with a thin crust and dense interior. Also available with sunflower seeds, flaxseeds and in multigrain varieties.
Russia
Russian General Store, 9629 Hillcroft St.
Rye bread
A large oval loaf very dark brown in color and extremely chewy. It is a very dense loaf, which makes it quite heavy. It has a slightly sweet and sour flavor at the same time.
Photo 1: Simit bread
Photo 2: owners and chef at Phoenicia are proud of their huge selection of breads
Syria
Phoenicia (various locations)
Tannour
A tannouris the Syrian equivalent of an Indian tandoor oven and the flat bread is cooked in exactly the same way as traditional Indian naan. The flat dough is stretched across a round, soft pad, which is used to place it on the wall of the hot oven. It cooks in a minute or two in the clay oven. Here, it is made in a stone-tiled oven.
Taiwan
85°C Bakery (various locations)
Toast
There are three kinds of bread available here: plain toast, milk toast and multigrain toast. Each cellophane-wrapped loaf contains eight slices of sandwich bread, which is normally eaten for breakfast, toasted and buttered or made into a sandwich with an egg and maybe ham. Even when toasted, the bread is exceedingly soft and has virtually no crust.
Turkey
Simit & Poacha Bakery, 12315 Westheimer Rd.
Simit
Often described as a Turkish bagel except that it is a little larger in diameter and thinner. It is covered in toasted sesame seeds. It can be stuffed, just like a bagel, and is also sold here with a fried egg cooked in the hole in the center. In Istanbul they are sold on the street for a few liraby men balancing a tray of them on their heads or by threading a rod through the hole in the middle of the simit.
USA
New York Deli & Coffee Shop, 9724 Hillcroft St.
Bagel
This place has its roots with Eugene Kornhaber, who became a bagel baker in New York when WWII ended. The family moved to Houston and opened their shop in 1975 with their son Jay. Even though the ownership recently changed hands, regulars know better than to kvetch. A good bagel does not have much of a crust and the interior is firm, dense and chewy and it should be hard to pull apart. It should also have a shine on the exterior due to the boiling in water it goes through just before baking. They make 20 different kinds of bagels and bialys here, although plain remains the best seller.
Cracker Barrel (various locations)
Buttermilk biscuit
Prior to the Civil War, biscuits were regarded a somewhat of a delicacy served only on Sundays, especially since only the rich could afford wheat flour. Here, these golden-brown, hexagonal-shaped morsels are made daily but only when you order them so when you get them, they’re hot and ready to be torn apart and have lashings of butter spread all over them. You know you are eating the lightest and fluffiest of biscuits when you can press them to the roof of your mouth with your tongue and they almost melt away.
Luby’s (various locations)
Cornbread (corn muffin)
Originating with Native Americans, nothing says comfort food as much as this Southern staple made with cornmeal. Golden topped, with a crumbly, intense yellow interior and a rich, distinctly sweet corn flavor. Available plain and with jalapeño in a rectangular muffin shape.
Slow Dough bakery available at Whole Foods
Hamburger bun.
Round, soft-textured bread was probably used for the first time to serve a hamburger in 1891, by Oscar Bilby of Tulsa. Prior to this, hamburgers had been served on slices of white bread. The Slow Dough version is made like challah and has a brown, high-domed, shiny top and a soft yellowy interior made so by the addition of an egg to the dough.
Royal Bakery, 1841 Fairview
Hoagie
The most popular origin of the hoagie was that it originated in Philadelphia at the Hog Island shipyards where, during WWI, Italian immigrants brought their sandwiches that became known as Hoggies. It is an 8-inch long, soft and airy roll, split lengthwise then stuffed with a variety of fillings.
Kraftsmen Baking, 611 W. 22ndSt.
Lavash
It is important to distinguish this thin, crisp cracker bread baked in a regular oven from the Armenian soft, yeasty, flat bread cooked in a tandoor with the same name. It comes in a full sheet pan size (22-inches by 15-inches) and is rolled paper thin. In fact, it is so thin and crispy that it is impossible to break in a straight line. The version I purchased had sesame seeds, rosemary and salt. Also available plain or topped with salt and pepper.
Royal Bakery, 1841 Fairview St.
Po-boy
Royal Bakery’s owner, Roman Bolua, has been selling the soft, 18-inch-long Po-Boy loaf ever since he opened the business in 1964, having moved here from Cuba in 1961. The po-boy is a quintessential New Orleans sandwich. Unlike a French baguette, which has sharply tapered ends, the Po-boy loaf is more uniform and rectangular in shape with rounded ends. The bread has a gentle crust with a soft, light and chewy interior. It is easily torn apart, requiring no cutting. The sandwich got its name in 1929 when striking streetcar workers in New Orleans were let go. Bennie and Clovis Martin, who owned a coffee shop in the French Market, decided to feed the hungry strikers, referring to them as “poor boys.” The name later transferred to the sandwich, which had previously been called an “oyster loaf.”
Kraftsmen Baking, 611 W. 22nd St.
Pullman Loaf (pan bread)
This basic white square-end sandwich loaf is so nameddue to its once having been baked in the small kitchens of Pullman railway dining cars, beginning in the second half of the 19th century, in a long, metal pan with a sliding lid. The lid makes the end of the loaf perfectly square with precise corners and prevents the dough from rising after it has reached the lid, making the loaf almost crust-less and the crumb very fine and virtually without air pockets. The version here a large loaf, measuring 15 by four by six inches, and has a high dome since it is not cooked with a lidded top. The interior is spongy and yellowish and it makes the absolute best toast since the exterior of each slice turns crisp but the interior stays soft.
Kenny & Ziggy’s (various locations)
Seeded rye bread (deli rye)
Made with dark and light rye flour and caraway seeds, this is the same bread used to make Ziggy’s famous corned beef, pastrami and Reuben sandwiches. The starter used for this bread came from a bakery in New York and is over 100 years old. This dark brown, extra-large, 4-pound loaf has a dense interior that won’t collapse under a ton of filling.
HEB (various locations)
Sweet dinner rolls
Sweetened breads came to Hawaii with the Portuguese who worked the ranches and sugarcane plantations in the mid-to-late 19th century. It was traditional to bake them in hive-shaped outdoor ovens using local kiawe wood, which burns hot and slow. The rolls are very soft and spongy and normally come in a rectangular shape, all stuck together but pre-sectioned, ready to be torn apart.
Desir Bakery, 1005 Blalock
Taro rolls (Hawaii)
Eight small, soft, moist, dinner rolls come in a package all stuck together, ready to be eased apart. From the outside, the golden-topped rolls give no indication of what’s inside, but break one open and you’ll see the vivid purple color imparted by taro, the root vegetable used to make this bread. Taro, a staple of the Hawaiian diet, also adds a hint of sweetness.
Venezuela
Tuttopane Bakery, 13525 Westheimer Rd.
Arepa
The name comes from the indigenous word for corn: erepa. They are five-inch-round, thick cornmeal patties that have been fried on the griddle and have burnt spots to prove it. They are meant to be stuffed with cheese, ham, shredded beef and the like, but here you can buy them plain and then add your own filling. Baker Joel Eliaz explains that when they’re plain, they’re called viuda (widow), since they’re all alone. Both these and the ones from Colombia are made with regular cornmeal that has not undergone the nixtamalization process used to make Mexican masa, from which tortillas and pupusas are made.
Vietnam
Parisian Bakery & Café (various locations)
Bánh
The name refers to the crispy baguette, about eight inches long, which is often split lengthwise and made into a sandwich filled with various savory ingredients, , in which case it is known as bánh mi, most popular in Saigon.
The baguette was introduced to Vietnam by the French. It usually contains both wheat and rice flours, which give the bread an even lighter texture and a crispier crust than traditional baguettes. Most of the time, the crumb is removed from the bread to allow for even more fillings. The version here is one of the crispiest available.
