Bread: nutrition and how to use it

Fun facts

• Bread arrived in Vietnam with the French, and the Vietnamese turned it into banh mi stuffed with pate, cold cuts and fresh herbs. The word "banh mi" is now in the Oxford English Dictionary.
• The numbers here are for crusty French-style bread: about 272 kcal, 51.9g of carbs and 10.8g of protein per 100g.
• Bread is fairly salty: 602mg of sodium per 100g, about 1.5g of salt. Before any fillings go in, the loaf already adds a noticeable share of your daily salt.
• Bread goes stale faster in the fridge than on the counter. The reason is the same as with cold rice: starch packs back together in the cold.

Choosing and storing

Good bread has an evenly golden crust that sounds crisp when tapped and feels light because the inside is airy. For eating the same day, keep it in a paper bag at room temperature; a sealed plastic bag softens the crust. Do not store bread in the fridge. If you will not finish it, wrap it tightly and freeze it, then toast it back to crisp when you eat it.

Cooking it well

Slightly soft or frozen bread needs just a few minutes in the oven or air fryer to get its crunch back. To make a banh mi meal more filling, add egg, meat, tofu and lots of vegetables, and go lighter on pate and salty sauces. To compare white bread with whole wheat and sourdough, read white vs whole wheat vs sourdough bread.

Frequently asked questions