Pizza is a savory dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flattened base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients, which is then baked at a high temperature, traditionally in a wood-fired oven. A small pizza is sometimes called a pizzetta. A person who makes pizza is known as a pizzaiolo.
A bagel, also historically spelled beigel, is a bread product originating in the Jewish communities of Poland. It is traditionally shaped by hand into the form of a ring from yeasted wheat dough, roughly hand-sized, that is first boiled for a short time in water and then baked. The result is a dense, chewy, doughy interior with a browned and sometimes crisp exterior. Bagels are often topped with seeds baked on the outer crust, with the traditional ones being poppy and sesame seeds. Some may have salt sprinkled on their surface, and there are different dough types, such as whole-grain and rye.
A baguette is a long, thin type of bread of French origin that is commonly made from basic lean dough. It is distinguishable by its length and crisp crust.
Dough is a thick, malleable, sometimes elastic paste made out of any grains, leguminous or chestnut crops. Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water and/or other liquid, and sometimes includes yeast or other leavening agents as well as other ingredients such as various fats or flavorings.
A calzone is an Italian oven-baked folded pizza, often described as a turnover, made with leavened dough. It originated in Naples in the 18th century. A typical calzone is made from salted bread dough, baked in an oven and is stuffed with salami, ham or vegetables, mozzarella, ricotta and Parmesan or pecorino cheese, as well as an egg. Different regional variations in or on a calzone can often include other ingredients that are normally associated with pizza toppings. The term usually applies to an oven-baked turnover rather than a fried pastry, though calzoni and panzerotti are often mistaken for each other.
A bread making machine or breadmaker is a home appliance for turning raw ingredients into baked bread. It consists of a bread pan, at the bottom of which are one or more built-in paddles, mounted in the center of a small special-purpose oven. This small oven is usually controlled by a simple built-in computer using settings input via a control panel. Most bread machines have different cycles for different kinds of dough—including white bread, whole grain, European-style, and dough-only. Many also have a timer to allow the bread machine to activate without operator attendance, and some high-end models allow the user to program a custom cycle.
Kifli or kipfel is a traditional yeast bread roll that is rolled and formed into a crescent before baking.
Baeckeoffe is a casserole dish that is typical in the French region of Alsace, situated on the border with Germany.
A masonry oven, colloquially known as a brick oven or stone oven, is an oven consisting of a baking chamber made of fireproof brick, concrete, stone, clay, or cob. Though traditionally wood-fired, coal-fired ovens were common in the 19th century, and modern masonry ovens are often fired with natural gas or even electricity. Modern masonry ovens are closely associated with artisanal bread and pizza, but in the past they were used for any cooking task involving baking. Masonry ovens are built by masons.
Indian breads are a wide variety of flatbreads and crêpes which are an integral part of Indian cuisine. Their variation reflects the diversity of Indian culture and food habits.
Afghan bread, or Nân-i Afğânī, is the national bread of Afghanistan. The bread is oval or rectangular and baked in a tandoor, a cylindrical oven that is widely used in South Asia. The Afghan version of the tandoor sits above ground and is made of bricks, which are heated to cook the bread. The bread, also known as naan, is shaped and then stuck to the interior wall of the oven to bake. It is similar to the naan eaten in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Nigella or caraway seeds are often sprinkled on the bread, as much for decoration as for taste, and lengthwise lines are scored in the dough to add texture to the bread.
A lame is a double-sided blade that is used to slash the tops of bread loaves in baking. A lame is used to score bread just before the bread is placed in the oven. Often the blade's cutting edge will be slightly concave-shaped, which allows users to cut flaps considerably thinner than would be possible with a traditional straight razor.
In cooking, proofing is a step in the preparation of yeast bread and other baked goods where the dough is allowed to rest and rise a final time before baking. During this rest period, yeast ferments the dough and produces gases, thereby leavening the dough.
Laffa, also known as lafa or Iraqi pita, is a large, thin flatbread in Israeli cuisine, of Iraqi origin. It is cooked in a tannur (tandoor) or taboon oven. Laffa does not form a pocket like a Levantine pita; it is most often used to wrap sandwiches such as falafel and shawarma, to dip in hummus, matbucha and other dips, or with shakshouka, and other dishes. It is also the traditional bread used in sabich, an Israeli eggplant sandwich. It is similar to, or indistinguishable from, many tandoor breads found in Asia including naan and the traditional Palestinian taboon bread.
Tandoor bread refers to a bread baked in a clay oven called a tandoor.
The gnocco fritto or crescentina is a bread in Italian cuisine from the Emilia region of Italy, prepared using flour, water and lard as primary ingredients. Cracklings are sometimes used in its preparation as well. In Emilia-Romagna, it is typically sliced into diamond shapes and then fried, and may be accompanied with cheese and salumi. When it is fried, the bread puffs up, and it may include yeast or baking soda to leaven it. Versions prepared with milk are softer than those prepared with water. It may be served either as an appetizer or as a main dish. Despite the name by which in Italy it is often referred to as a kind of gnocchi, it is technically not.
Bataw is a leavened flatbread from Egypt. It is widely consumed in the Egyptian countryside. The main ingredients of the bread vary depending on the region.
