Book 16: White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf

What does cottony white bread mean? That is the question posed by this book.

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Many of us grew up eating fluffy white bread, and Aaron Bobrow-Strain explains why those loaves were virtually all that was available for a time, and why they have fallen out of favor now.

As this book described the pendulum swing of food fads (from dark homemade breads, to fluffy white "sterile" loaves, then back to dark artisan loaves), I saw myself and my bread choices. It was a bit eerie to see something as specific as the kind of bread I buy described so clearly as a response to a food fad.