# How Common is Bread in Different Cultures? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 8, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-bread-in-different-cultures/675837 "2013-12-08T17:57:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-bread-in-different-cultures/675837/41 "2013-12-29T02:49:02Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Laos, too, has wonderful bread, especially French bread. As with Vietnam, it’s the French influence. (Who said colonialism was a bad thing?) Cambodia might have had it, but it was probably crushed out by the Khmer Rouge. Yep - the bread used for banh-mi is of excellent quality. The French influence can also be seen the pate, truly one of the worlds great sandwiches and a gift to the world from Vietnam. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-bread-in-different-cultures/675837/42 "2013-12-29T07:03:52Z")
> [@MikeG](#): > > What class is this for?? Reads JUST like some soc101 question but not sure. Do we have reason to believe that PastTense is still a student? I always though he was in his 40s. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-bread-in-different-cultures/675837/43 "2014-01-05T23:54:41Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Yep - the bread used for banh-mi is of excellent quality. The French influence can also be seen the pate, truly one of the worlds great sandwiches and a gift to the world from Vietnam. Agreed. If I am going to treat/punish my gluten-intolerant self, it must be with a bahn-mi. Well, half a one. a whole one really does punish my gut. But YUM! ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-bread-in-different-cultures/675837/44 "2014-01-08T15:19:49Z")
> [@storyguide3](#): > > The answer seems to be that until the Portugese came, wheat was used for noodles but not bread. The Japanese word for bread, pan, comes from the Portugese. They, however, improved on it by using layers of contrasting colored doughs, producing a striped effect. They referred to the result as “shimapan”. 😃 Looking for my chicken ascot now … :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-bread-in-different-cultures/675837/45 "2014-01-09T19:45:41Z")
I believe bread, or breadlike foodstuffs, are almost universal in human cultures, the main exceptions being those which don’t cultivate the right kind of plants, either because local conditions make grain cultivation impractical or else because they don’t practice agriculture at all. I think I can safely say that there’s little if any bread in traditional Inuit culture, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-bread-in-different-cultures/675837/46 "2014-01-10T06:49:11Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > China? I have never had bread in a Chinese restaurant, spring rolls yes but they’re made with rice paper. Mongolian cuisine makes use of small flattish bread rolls, which you fill with the BBQd meat and veggies. I’ve had them both at a restaurant in NZ as well as several locations when in Xian in China, so assume it’s not a Western invention only. But other than steamed buns and dumplings I’m not familiar with in in any other Chinese cuisine. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-bread-in-different-cultures/675837/47 "2014-01-10T16:40:48Z")
> [@MacLir](#): > > They, however, improved on it by using layers of contrasting colored doughs, producing a striped effect. They referred to the result as “shimapan”. 😃 You a very very naughty! You need a spanking! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-bread-in-different-cultures/675837/48 "2014-01-10T17:02:55Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Do we have reason to believe that PastTense is still a student? I always though he was in his 40s. The two are not mutually exclusive, you know. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-common-is-bread-in-different-cultures/675837.md?page=2)