Friday Bread Basket 8/1/25

Hello from the Wordloaf Friday Bread Basket, a weekly roundup of links and items relating to bread, baking, and grain.

Let's call it Syrian bread again

My parents call pita "Syrian bread," and that's what I knew it by as a kid. This video (Instagram original here, by Khaled Alamriki) explains why and when anti-Arab sentiment in the U.S. forced bakers to start calling it by other names. I think I'm going to go back to calling it Syrian bread myself.

Empanadavida

I loved this recent Serious Eats recipe for Argentine cheese empanadas from Kevin Vaughn. Not only does the recipe look excellent, the story behind it includes the sort of deep-dive I've come to expect from his work:

Today, she regularly visits her favorite spots to understand what makes each empanada and its maker special. At each of the four stops we make, Blanco is able to recount the story behind every shop and points out minuscule details that make each place unique. Sharing a list of spots with me, she encourages me to try them on my own and tells me what to look for, like the number of folds in each braid, the char of a wood-burning oven or red dough prepared with local chile peppers.

She starts by taking me to the home of Marta Savaria, who serves patrons on her back patio. Ground chile pepper similar to paprika gives the empanada dough a characteristic yellow hue. And at El Buen Gusto, the repulgue is so tightly bound and perfectly uniform that there are rumors the shop invented a secret machine to make their empanadas. "Some shop owners probably think I'm some kind of spy," Blanco jokes as she compares three identical-looking empanadas. "I just really love empanadas."

I haven't made these yet, but I've no doubt they are excellent, and plan to soon.

These Gooey Cheese Empanadas Require Nothing More Than Hot Sauce. (And Maybe a Bib!)

Empanadas are found up and down Argentina. But in the Northwest city of Salta, a red chile pepper-dyed dough stands out among the rest.

Serious EatsKevin Vaughn

Get Sloppy

My pal Rax King just released her latest book of essays, Sloppy. I'm about a third of the way through it myself, but I know that the last two-thirds are going to be as hilarious and wise as the first, and I very much think you should pick up a copy. (And I'm not saying that just because I happened to take her author photo that's on the back cover.) Rax's also-excellent first book, Tacky, includes an essay on her love for The Cheesecake Factory's brown bread, which reminds me that I need to finish working on the copycat recipe I promised her years ago.

While you are waiting to find time to hit your local bookshop to get Sloppy, read Rax's James Beard-nominated 2019 essay, Love, Peace, and Taco Grease: How I Left My Abusive Husband and Found Guy Fieri, which will give you a taste of what to expect of the new book.

But loving Guy Fieri was a safe, simple rebellion against the memory of my husband. My husband the preppy man-boy in Sperrys, who never saw a bleached blond man he didn’t sneer at, who pruned at my too-soft body like it was a troublesome topiary, who only believed in loudness when he was employing it against me. On the other hand, Guy Fieri, uncool and bold and tacky as hell, offered such generosity and praise to the restaurant owners on his show. He was uncouth for a cause. The timbre of his voice was the exact opposite of a disappointed murmur and a handful of my hair.

Guy Fieri allowed me to ask: who do I fear noise and brightness for? Who do I fear food for? And he gave me the answer: I fear it for myself, and yet someday, I’m going to need to take those parts of me back.

Love, Peace, and Taco Grease: How I Left My Abusive Husband and Found Guy Fieri

Rax King

Hail Caesars

As seen on Bluesky.

That’s it for this week’s bread basket. Have a peaceful, restful weekend. See you next week.

—Andrew