Why do Westerners like to eat bread? Bread appears in almost every meal of theirs. This is very different from our Eastern culture, in Vietnam, where we primarily eat rice. A meal without rice feels incomplete. We call a meal a rice meal whether there is rice or not. Why do Europeans like bread?

First is the geographical reason. Europe is located in a temperate zone with cold winters, cool summers, and land that is not always flooded. Here, wheat, barley, oats, and rye are familiar crops. They can withstand the cold, do not require too much water, and have high yields. Wheat has been grown in Europe since the Neolithic period tens of thousands of years ago. Wheat fields stretch across France, Germany, and Ukraine, becoming the cradle of bread.

In contrast, what about rice crops? They require a hot and humid climate, fertile alluvial soil, and a complex irrigation system to be flooded at the right time. In Asia, with plains like the Red River Delta, the Mekong Delta, and the Yangtze River Delta, rice cultivation is very normal. But in ancient Europe, creating flooded rice fields was almost an impossible task. Just imagine how rice could be grown in the grasslands of England or Germany. Therefore, wheat prevailed, and bread became king at the Western dining table.

In Europe, there is an area known as the wheat belt stretching from France, Germany to Ukraine. This was the largest wheat-producing area in the world in ancient times, providing flour for millions of loaves of bread every day. This geographical difference has shaped the eating habits of the two regions. Indeed, Mother Nature has her own arrangement. Geography laid the foundation, but culture is what made bread an immortal symbol in the West. Here, bread is not just food but also a part of faith, tradition, and lifestyle.

If you have ever heard of Christianity, you surely know about the communion ritual in the Catholic Church. In this ritual, a type of unleavened bread is seen as a symbol of the body of Jesus Christ. And since the Middle Ages, bread has held such sacred significance. You can imagine how important a food that is tied to the faith of an entire continent can be. In the Bible, bread appears everywhere. In ancient Europe, if a family had bread on the dining table, it was a sign of prosperity. In some languages, the word for bread even means food in general.

Bread is not only of religious significance but also very convenient in daily life.

In ancient Europe, people often worked in the fields, went hunting, or participated in wars. They needed a type of food that was easy to carry, easy to preserve, and filling. Bread met all these needs. A sturdy loaf of bread can last for several days. It can be torn to eat with cheese, cold cuts, soup, or simply eaten plain without any accompaniment. Meanwhile, rice must be eaten right after cooking; if left too long, it can spoil and is not very convenient to carry. Thus, bread became the companion of Westerners. Moreover, it is also very versatile.

In France, you have long, crispy bread eaten with butter or cheese. In Germany, there is heavy, dense black bread. In Italy, there is fragrant rosemary bread. Each region in Europe has its own type of bread reflecting the culture and ingredients of each locality. To understand better, let's compare it with the rice culture in Asia. In Vietnam, rice is the center of the meal. A proper meal must have a bowl of hot white rice served with soup, vegetables, meat, and fish. Rice is not just food but also a symbol of family unity and togetherness. You hear the phrase about coming home to eat rice, which is not just an invitation to eat but also a call back to the home. But in the West, that role belongs to bread. A typical meal in Europe might be bread soup, along with a bit of roasted meat.

Did you know? Bread is so important that there is even a day dedicated to it for celebration. October 16 every year is called World Bread Day, celebrated to honor the role of bread in global culture and cuisine. In many European countries, bread festivals are held where bakers compete to create unique loaves, from animal-shaped bread to giant loaves. And in Europe, bread has played an important role since ancient history. Since the Roman Empire, bread has been an indispensable part. The Romans built public bakeries to mass-produce bread to feed entire cities.

In the city of Pompeii, when archaeologists excavated, they found ancient bakeries intact with loaves of bread fossilized from the year 79. These loaves were round and divided into pieces like today's pizza, showing that the Romans had created many types of bread since then. Roman bread was not only food but also a tool for governance. Emperors distributed free bread to the people to win their hearts, a policy known as "bread and circuses."

By the Middle Ages, bread became increasingly important. Interestingly, the type of bread you ate indicated your social class. The rich ate white bread because it was made from finely milled flour, soft and fragrant. The poor ate black bread made from barley or rye, sometimes mixed with hard chaff, which was heavy. White bread was a symbol of formality, while black bread was just good enough to eat.

By the time of the Industrial Revolution, bread further solidified its position. As people flocked to cities to work in factories, they needed quick, cheap, and convenient food, and bread perfectly met those needs. This was also the period when the sandwich was invented. Thanks to the Earl of Sandwich in England, a person wanted a meal that was both delicious and convenient to eat, not while working but while playing cards. From a gambler, the sandwich was invented, and from then on, the sandwich became a symbol of Western cuisine.

Additionally, there are some facts and records about bread as follows. Bread has some impressive records. According to the Guinness World Records, the longest loaf of bread ever made was over 2.5 km long, created in the city of Vienna Castello, Portugal in 2019. To make this loaf, over 4 tons of flour were used, and hundreds of bakers worked continuously for 8 hours. After completion, the loaf was cut and distributed for free to the people.

Have you heard of golden bread? In 2018, a restaurant in New York set a Guinness record with the world's most expensive sandwich. Priced at over $1500, it was covered in 24k gold and edible gold leaf. Speaking of the oldest bread in the world, people still think that bread only appeared when humans learned to cultivate wheat.

But it turns out that bread is even older than the agriculture we know. In the Black Desert region of Jordan, archaeologists discovered a charred flatbread made from wild grains roasted on hot stones, dating back about 14,000 years. The bread was unleavened and looked quite similar to today's flatbreads. This discovery shows that humans created bread very early, even before they could cultivate wheat.

Speaking of leavening, the Egyptians were the first to invent the technique of using natural yeast to make bread rise. They discovered that if they left flour mixed with water exposed to air for a few days, it would ferment on its own. When baked, the bread would rise, becoming softer and more fragrant. From there, they built the first clay ovens, the ancestors of modern ovens, and spread this technique throughout the Mediterranean. Their bread was used in religious rituals, offerings, and in the graves of the dead so that they would have food reserves in the afterlife.

We cannot forget about Vietnamese bread, one of the culinary symbols that has reached out to the world.

With a crispy crust, fluffy interior, and a variety of fillings from pâté, Vietnamese sausage, grilled meat to pickled vegetables, herbs, chili, and sauce. Vietnamese bread has been praised by international media such as CNN, BBC, and The Guardian. Notably, Vietnamese bread was once ranked among the top sandwiches in the world. Priced at only about $1 to $2, Vietnamese bread is a perfect example of the ideal combination of affordability, convenience, and excellent flavor.

You may not believe it, but every day, over 9 billion loaves of bread are consumed worldwide. This means that on average, each person on Earth eats more than one loaf of bread each day. It is one of the most consumed foods on the planet, surpassing meat, dairy, and even rice in many places. Bread appears in almost every meal in Europe, the Middle East, South America, Asia, and Africa. Each place has its own style, each place has its own flavor, but they all share the spirit of "affordable, filling, and delicious." Throughout history, bread has not only been food but also a political symbol.

During the French Revolution in 1789, the skyrocketing price of bread and widespread poverty became the last straw that led the people of Paris to revolt. The famous saying, which may have been fabricated by the French royal family, reflects this: "If they have no bread, let them eat cake." It became a symbolic slogan of blind luxury that led to the downfall of the French feudal regime.