I ♥ Gluten

Dear readers,

Is there anything more satisfying than a warm, freshly baked loaf of bread? I mean, besides a giant bowl of Concord grapes? I don't think so. As many of you know, I am obsessed with bread. It is by far my favorite of the four food groups. And I feel lucky that we as Americans are currently living in a golden age of bread. Every city has a bakery that bakes high-quality loaves and sells them at grocery stores all over town. But it was not always like this. When I was a kid the grocery stores stocked only pre-packaged sliced bread, and it was pretty mediocre stuff. But sometime during the past two decades European-style artisan bread became more common. Although it wasn't sliced, it had a much crispier crust and heartier flavor, a welcome change from the bland, mushy bread of my youth. It was, quite literally, the best thing since sliced bread. Nowadays, there is no excuse for not enjoying a delicious, crusty loaf. And yet, this wondrous thing has recently gotten a lot of bad press, and for no good reason. Several years ago, the Atkins diet craze swept the nation, and suddenly anything with a carbohydrate in it (e.g., bread) was the enemy. Of course, it was just another fad diet that came and went, but some of the stigma remained. Additionally, there has been a recent movement in some food circles towards gluten-free products, and this has once again has given bread a bad name. Now, I have nothing but sympathy for people with celiac disease, but that condition is pretty rare and doesn't justify the increasing popularity of gluten-free products. There's no reason for the vast majority of Americans to deny themselves the pleasure of yummy, gluten-packed bread.

Probably the best way to enjoy bread is to make it from scratch in your own home, which is exactly what I did last weekend. The house smelled wonderful while it was baking, and the bread was amazingly fresh, warm, and tasty. And just tonight, Mrs. Concord baked two loaves of brioche (pictured above), and it was even more incredible. This sort of thing is time-consuming, however, and it's not something that most people have time to do on a regular basis. If you're not up for baking your own bread, then you can still buy a nice, freshly baked loaf for a few bucks at your nearest grocer. And if that's not available, you can always settle for this: the Alexia Garlic Baguette. This is, in my opinion, the best frozen garlic bread (or frozen anything) of all-time. It is so good that I could eat a whole one in one sitting, which is something I've actually done. You see, there are so many ways to enjoy bread, and I've just scratched the surface. Gluten lovers of the world, rejoice!