Bread roll
Encyclopedia
Bread
Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
, usually small and round and is commonly considered a side dish. Bread rolls are often used in the same way as sandwich
Sandwich
A sandwich is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of :bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or...
es are—cut transversely, with fillings placed between the two halves.
Various forms
There are many names for bread rolls, especially in local dialectDialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
s of British English
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
. Originally, these originated with bakers terms for different forms of bread roll depending on how the dough was made and how the roll was cooked. However, over time, most people have come to use one name to refer to all similar products regardless of whether it is technically correct or not.
- Breadcake or teacake, mainly YorkshireYorkshireYorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
and East Lancashire - Refers to the round flat type of bread often used for sandwich making. - Bread roll or just roll.
- Bap (often a larger soft roll, roughly 5-6 inches in diameter). Dough can contain fats such as lard or butter to provide tenderness to dough. Can come in multiple shapes dependent on region. Baps as traditionally made in ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
are not sweet, unlike the IrishIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
version which may contain currantZante currantThe Zante currant , or currant are dried berries of small, sweet, seedless grape variety Black Corinth . The name comes from the Anglo-French phrase "raisins de Corinthe" and the Ionian island of Zakynthos , which was once the major producer and exporter...
s. The 9th Edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary (1995) says that the word "bap" dates from the 16th century and that its origin is unknown. - Barm or barm cake in LancashireLancashireLancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
is a flat, floured, savoury, small bread made using a natural leaven including mashed hops to stop it souring. It is also slang for a bap in the North-West of England. - Batch, Coventry/Nuneaton/Wirral term , a large soft floured roll from ShropshireShropshireShropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
. - Bin lid, a large round soft white or brown roll common in MerseysideMerseysideMerseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
. - BlaaBlaaA blaa is a doughy, white bread bun speciality which, according to a writer in The Irish Times is currently particular to Waterford City and County, Ireland., but historically, the blaa is also known to have been made in Kilkenny and Wexford....
, a doughy, white bread roll. A speciality found in Waterford, Ireland. - Bulkie rollBulkie rollA bulkie roll or bulkie is a New England regional variety of sandwich roll. Sandwiches made with bulkie rolls are very common in area delicatessens, restaurants, and institutional food services. Bulkie rolls are larger and firmer than hamburger buns. The crust is usually slightly crisp or crunchy,...
, a type of roll with a crust that is usually slightly crisp or crunchy and has no toppings. - BunBunA bun is a small, usually sweet, bread. Commonly they are hand-sized or smaller, domed in shape, with a flat bottom. A bun can also be a savory bread roll similar to a bap or barmcake....
(e.g., hamburger bun or hot dog bunHot dog bunA hot dog bun is a type of soft bun shaped specifically to contain a hot dog. The original purpose of this bun was to make it possible to eat hot dogs without burning ones hands....
). - ButteryButtery (bread)A buttery, also known as a rowie, rollie,Aberdeen roll or Cookie is a savoury Scottish bread roll ....
, a flat savoury roll from AberdeenAberdeenAberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
. - Cob, the name used in reference to a round bread roll, often crusty, in parts of the Midlands and North West, England. A cob more usually refers to a loaf of bread so called due to the shape, from the Anglo Saxon for "head". An alternative source of the term cob in reference to a bread roll is the similarity in shape and size to a cobblestoneCobblestoneCobblestones are stones that were frequently used in the pavement of early streets. "Cobblestone" is derived from the very old English word "cob", which had a wide range of meanings, one of which was "rounded lump" with overtones of large size...
. - Dinner roll, a smaller roll, often crusty.
- Dollar roll, a small silver-dollar-sized roll, often sliced and used for sandwiches.
- Finger roll, a soft roll about three times longer than it is wide.
- Flour cake is also used, along with barm in BoltonBoltonBolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
. - French roll, often used as a generic term for the bread roll but also a sweeter softer roll with milk added to the dough.
- Italian roll, also known as a hoagie roll, long roll or steak roll, a long, narrow roll with an airy, dry interior and crusty exterior.
- Kaiser rollKaiser rollThe Kaiser roll, also called a Vienna roll or a hard roll , is a kind of bread roll, invented in Vienna, and thought to have been named to honor Emperor Franz Joseph...
, a crusty round roll, often topped with poppy seedPoppy seedPoppy seed is an oilseed obtained from the opium poppy . The tiny kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years...
s or sesame seeds made by folding corners of a square inward so that their points meet. - KummelweckKummelweckA beef on weck sandwich is a variety of steak sandwich found primarily in Western New York. It is made with roast beef on a kummelweck roll. The meat on the sandwich is traditionally served rare, thin cut, with the top bun getting a dip au jus...
, a kaiser rollKaiser rollThe Kaiser roll, also called a Vienna roll or a hard roll , is a kind of bread roll, invented in Vienna, and thought to have been named to honor Emperor Franz Joseph...
or bulkie rollBulkie rollA bulkie roll or bulkie is a New England regional variety of sandwich roll. Sandwiches made with bulkie rolls are very common in area delicatessens, restaurants, and institutional food services. Bulkie rolls are larger and firmer than hamburger buns. The crust is usually slightly crisp or crunchy,...
that is topped with a mixture of kosher saltKosher saltKoshering salt, usually referred to as kosher salt in the US, is a variety of edible salt with a much larger grain size than some common table salt...
and caraway seeds. This type of roll is a regional variation found primarily in Upstate New YorkUpstate New YorkUpstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
. - ManchetManchetManchet, or manchette or michette , is a wheaten yeast bread of very good quality, or a small flat circular loaf of same. It was a bread that was small enough to be held in the hand or glove .-History:...
, a yeast roll popular with the Tudor Court of which there are many variations. - Muffin Some people in the UK refer to a bread roll as a "muffin" (commonly used in Rochdale, Oldham, Bury, Ashton-Under-Lyne, Salford and parts of West YorkshireWest YorkshireWest Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
), although a muffin is also a separate, distinct form of bread product. See English MuffinEnglish muffinA muffin or English muffin is a small, round, flat type of yeast-leavened bread almost always dusted with cornmeal, which is commonly served split horizontally, toasted, and buttered. Muffins are eaten either as a snack alone or as part of a meal.- History :An old English nursery rhyme, "The...
. - Nudger, a long soft white or brown roll similar to a large finger roll common in LiverpoolLiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. - Oven bottom, a Lancashire term for a flat, floury, soft roll.
- Stottie cakeStottie cakeA Stottie cake or stotty is a type of bread produced in North East England. It is a flat and round loaf , with an indent in the middle produced by the baker. Elsewhere in the world, bread considered similar to the stottie is known as Oven Bottom Bread. One chief difference is the heavy and...
, a thick, flat, round loaf. Stotties are common in North East EnglandNorth East EnglandNorth East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...
.
Bread rolls are common in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, especially in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(called panino or panini) and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. They are equally common in both Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and very common in Canada. The German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
name for rolls is Brötchen (Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
and Northern Germany resp. high German), which is the diminutive of "Brot" (bread), Rundstück (in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
), Semmel (Bavaria, most parts of Saxony and Austria, from Latin similia wheat flour, originally from Assyrian samidu white flour), zsemle in Hungary, Schrippe (in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and parts of Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
), or Weck (especially in Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
, Franconia
Franconia
Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...
and Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
). In Germany and Austria, there is a large variety of bread rolls, ranging from white rolls made with wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
flour
Flour
Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
, to dark rolls containing mostly rye
Rye
Rye is a grass grown extensively as a grain and as a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some whiskeys, some vodkas, and animal fodder...
flour. Many variants include spice
Spice
A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...
s, such as coriander
Coriander
Coriander is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. Coriander is native to southern Europe and North Africa to southwestern Asia. It is a soft, hairless plant growing to tall. The leaves are variable in shape, broadly lobed at the base of the plant, and slender and feathery higher on the...
and cumin
Cumin
Cumin is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native from the east Mediterranean to India. Its seeds are used in the cuisines of many different cultures, in both whole and ground form.-Etymology:...
, nut
Nut (fruit)
A nut is a hard-shelled fruit of some plants having an indehiscent seed. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts in English, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts...
s, or seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s, such as sesame
Sesame
Sesame is a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for its edible seeds, which grow in pods....
seeds, poppy seed
Poppy seed
Poppy seed is an oilseed obtained from the opium poppy . The tiny kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years...
or sunflower
Sunflower
Sunflower is an annual plant native to the Americas. It possesses a large inflorescence . The sunflower got its name from its huge, fiery blooms, whose shape and image is often used to depict the sun. The sunflower has a rough, hairy stem, broad, coarsely toothed, rough leaves and circular heads...
seeds.
An Italian form is a small loaf of ciabatta
Ciabatta
Ciabatta is an Italian white bread made with wheat flour and yeast. The loaf is somewhat elongated, broad and flattish. There are many variations of ciabatta.Ciabatta in its modern form was developed in 1982...
which can be used to make a panino
Panino
Panini are small, filled, bread rolls, which are sometimes toasted. They are Italian in origin, but now found in other countries.In Italy, panino is the word for a sandwich made with a bread roll. Sandwiches there are customarily made from a roll or loaf of bread, typically a ciabatta or a rosetta...
(or panini). In Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, rolls are called rundstykker (literally "round pieces") and are comfort food eaten with butter for special weekend breakfasts; some like to put cheese, jam or salami on the rundstykker.