Many years ago, I had a colleague who was a Swiss native. Whenever he
would see one of us making a sandwich, he would turn up his nose and
comment (with heavy French accent) "Ugh, bread in plastic..."
We all thought he was "funny" in his own quirky way. After all, what
other kind of bread was there? Bread would become stale if it were not
in plastic.
Over the years, after visiting Europe, and with the advent of
supermarkets offering baguettes and "artisan" breads, I've come to
realize, my little Swiss friend was right - plastic ruins bread.
Bread is another one of those things that in the cause of convienence
and mass marketing (like coffee and beer), we Americans have evolved a
product that is nothing like the real thing. "Best thing since sliced
bread" is a saying that doesn't have a lot of meaning to me anymore.
I see now that bread is one of those things that must be consumed
fresh - eaten the day it is baked, otherwise fed to the birds.
Some of the supermarkets offering fresh baguettes get it right - the
baguette is in a paper bag and leftovers are tossed at the end of the
day, replaced by freshly baked loaves the next morning.
Some supermarkets don't get it, opting to shove leftovers into plastic
bags and offering for sale. Some don't get it at all, putting freshly
baked baguettes into a plastic bag! The horror!
Like the trends that have reversed mediocrity in beer and coffee,
let's give a cheer for the increased popularity and availability of
bread NOT in plastic!
Tom