Waste can be avoided by recycling bread

Five centuries ago, 500 grams of bread a day were consumed. Today, the consumption decreases, and food often ends up in the dustbin.

Bread always was a basic food, both for the poor and the rich. Frequently linked to religious rituals, it is food with a strong symbolic connotation. Five centuries ago a person used to eat 500 grams a day; today we do not consume more than 150 grams!

But bread has also changed. After the last world war, the white bread got the upper hand. The variety has widened. Generally, bread is much lighter than in the past. It therefore does not age well. Accustomed to eat the best, appealed by the variety and in a too great hurry to deal with the leftovers, we throw food away.

It is recommended to store bread in a cloth or at a dry and closed place, for example in a bread box or a can. Plastic bags should be avoided as they prevent the air circulation making bread mouldy. However, in the open air it can attract parasites.

According to a survey, the French throw away 400 000 tons of bread every year! Yet bread has a remarkable nutritional value. The whole-wheat bread is twice richer in nutrients, like food fibres, magnesium, calcium, iron and vitamins, and we like the freshness of the white bread; however neither the one nor the other deserves to be wasted.

Of course, fresh bread is the best, but on the next day or the day after, it tastes good, too, if it is toasted or — previously moistened — heated up in the oven. It can also be used for different salted or sweet dishes:

• roasted bread slices with vanilla cream and compote (French toast)
• apple charlottes; other fruit are possible (for example apricots, plums)
• pudding where fruit and bread are mixed with an egg dough and baked in the oven (serve with syrup and curd)
• in butter toasted bread scraps, served with a (juicy) cherry compote
• bread omelettes, sugared, garnished with fruit, or salted and with vegetables
• small in butter browned croûtons, to different salads (tomato, lamb’s lettuce) or soups
• cheese, mushroom, spinach toasts etc.

The stale bread leftovers can be used for other recipes:

• bread soup
• bread crumbs, produced from stale bread leftovers, can be used for pastry, to prepare croquettes, to fill vegetables etc.

Isabelle Mabiala