Our daily bread

Good morning hardnose! Probably, but using the word mafia with anyone or anything associated with Morocco is like a peanut butter and garlic sandwich - just doesn't mix.

Thats funny Fieldgate considering the U.S or any new world country wouldnt have much cuisine, if any, if it hadnt been for European and other immigrant influence. Latin America may be an exception but most parts have been European influenced to some extent too. Glad you liked the Soda Bread. Most versions are easy to make at home too. Soda Farl is my favourite. Traditionally baked over an open fire on a cast iron griddle and then eaten hot or split open and fried with an Ulster Fry or Irish breakfast. I prefer to split open and toast one side, spread with Irish butter and filled with bacon or good sausages, sandwich style and with brown HP sauce. A good home made Wheaten Bread is also a nice change and particularly good with jam, cheeses, smoked fish or with soup.
France have definitely some of the best breads and cuisine in the world and a great food culture. Spain,Italy and Greece are my other favourites.
I know the immigration issue in the U.K is delicate right now but I am so glad there is such an influence as they have made eating out so much better. There are still some great British and Irish traditional dishes too that are often forgotten about or badly cooked although some are making a come back.

There is a traditional flat bread made in Timbuktu. It can be pretty tasty, but can also be an unexpected source of minerals in you diet--it's pretty hard to make without getting sand on the dough or the finished bread.

They look pretty good, but I really do prefer my bread without sand in it.

34 - then you really wouldn't like sangak, as sometimes it has pebbles in it. But it is very nice.

Bread for me, growing up in Dublin, always meant brown soda bread (which we just call 'brown bread'). But my family were highly traditionalist in this regard, and for almost all my schoolmates, sliced pan (probably the local equivalent of wonderbread) was the norm. For me, it was a rare treat. I don't think that way now, though. Unfortunately, living in London at the moment, buttermilk is ludicrously expensive, so making soda bread won't save you any money.

Think the Algerian Touggourt Bedouin tribesmen actually bury their flat dough bread in shallow sand in the desert and make a fire on top to cook them.They simply dust off the sand from the cooked bread when ready.