Bread & Germany
Germany has 300 different kinds of bread
By calculation of the Chamber of Agriculture Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germans ate more than 87 kgs of bread, cakes and pastries last year. The range of 300 breads on offer in Germany is unsurpassed. The range of cakes and pastries is even more diverse. More than 1,200 different kinds of fine pastries are said to come out of German bakeries every day.
One of the reasons for this diversity lies in the unique combination of wheat and rye used in bakers' recipes. This is reflected in the breads that are favourites among Germans. According to market researchers, rye breads and breads containing wheat mixtures top the list. Those made from a mixture of grains and whole-wheat breads are second and third on the popularity scale. CMA surveyed breadrolls favoured by clients. The "normal" wheat roll is preferred by 37%, 29% prefer whole-grain and mixed-grain rolls, 15% like rye, and lye rolls - like pretzels glazed with a lye solution before baking - came in at 12%, with poppyseed rolls at 11%.
Among bread-loving nations within the European Union, Sweden and Denmark were just behind Germany with average consumption of more than 70 kgs each. The French each ate 54 kilograms of baguette in 2005.
Source: Deutsches Generalkonsulat Melbourne