A chinese person recently asked me: "In America, does the bread usually contain other things, or is it just bread?"
To understand the question, you need to know that if you buy a bread product in a Chinese bakery, there will be some sort of filling -- beans, a hot dog, anything -- hidden in the middle (well, a hot dog will usually stick out visibly on either side).
When I replied that bread is bread all the way through, there was a followup question: "If it's all just bread, how can one bread be different from another bread?"
It was hard to know how to respond. Different breads taste different. Some are high-quality, some are low. People aren't just imagining the difference between sourdough and wonderbread.
To understand the question, you need to know that if you buy a bread product in a Chinese bakery, there will be some sort of filling -- beans, a hot dog, anything -- hidden in the middle (well, a hot dog will usually stick out visibly on either side).
When I replied that bread is bread all the way through, there was a followup question: "If it's all just bread, how can one bread be different from another bread?"
It was hard to know how to respond. Different breads taste different. Some are high-quality, some are low. People aren't just imagining the difference between sourdough and wonderbread.