Wednesday, April 6, 2011

BREAD AND BUTTER ISSUES

There’s nothing like a great piece of bread with some butter. (Olive oil is another delicious story and we’ve already covered that ground.)

How the butter gets to the bread  or how you break it becomes interesting.  If the bread is sliced, take a slice and put it on your bread plate if you have one. It’s all right to put bread on a clean tablecloth (French bread works better than sliced white on a table for some reason.). We’re not too keen on doing the same on uncovered tables that could have been used as rests for handbags – you don’t know where those bags have been. If the bread isn’t sliced, just pray that everyone came to the table with clean hands.

Once you have your bread, tear off a piece and put the butter directly on it.  If you have a plate, take a whole pat or enough from the butter dish just for you. Don’t worry about restaurants running out of butter. Their purpose is to butter us up. Unfortunately, some places, usually diners, serve iced butter squares that tear up your bread before you can tear into it. We don’t have any advice for you there. Just understand where you are and own it.

Tina Wong:The Wandering Eater
How you make your bread and butter is up to you. Slapping  and spreading butter on a whole piece as if you're on an assembly line may not be your most elegant move.  And whatever you do, don't dip a piece of bread you've had a bite out of into a communal butter dish. If you do that, you’re breaking more than bread.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I cringe when I see someone take a roll,butter the entire roll, then proceed to eat as if it's a sandwich.

Anonymous said...

Right again. No one knows how to eat bread with elegance anymore. I sometimes feel silly breaking off a mouth-sized piece, buttering it and putting it in my mouth--just enough to eat in one bite, not several. Are we old-fashioned? If so, I like it.

xoxoxo

Anonymous said...

Right again. No one knows how to eat bread with elegance anymore. I sometimes feel silly breaking off a mouth-sized piece, buttering it and putting it in my mouth--just enough to eat in one bite, not several. Are we old-fashioned? If so, I like it.

Anonymous said...

When the butter is cold I place it under the warm bread basket, etc. and allow it to melt a bit. That solves the breaking bread when you spread issue.

Anonymous said...

I don't know why restaurants cannot serve butter at room temp. but I take the wrapped buttter and just hold it discretely in my hand until it softens up.