BreadTalk Goes Healthy

Not having one in Yogyakarta, every time Candika and I go to Bali then her first stop is BreadTalk. She loves the place and my wallet hates it!. But, I must admit I do like some of their kue (cakes). BreadTalk is now introducing four new varieties of bread that can be enjoyed as part of a healthy and nutritious meal and giving the state of rice supply in the country at the moment, it appears more and more people are enjoying the ‘western’ staple.

Bread Offers So Much Potential …

Ririn Agustarini often wakes up in the morning only to find that she does not enough time to prepare breakfast.

She has to rush otherwise she will miss an important event where she is the emcee. She has no choice. Quickly she grabs some bread and runs to her car to catch the event.

“I’m now getting familiar with bread. I can eat it for breakfast, lunch or even dinner,” Ririn said.

Evi, a bank employee, has also started to switch to bread for breakfast. “I like eating bread for breakfast because it does not take much time to prepare,” Evi said.

In a country where most of the population eat rice, Ririn and Evi are among the few people who enjoy bread for meals.

Given the unstable rice supplies these days and by an attempt to lure more customers, boutique bakery BreadTalk recently introduced four varieties of bread that can be enjoyed as part of a healthy and nutritious meal.

Designed in a round-table event dubbed “Fun Dining ala BreadTalk”, the bread was served to media people in a four-course menu.

Unlike the courses at restaurants that may be more varied in their ingredients, all the food at the event used bread as the main ingredient.

Of course, the bakery also added small touches, too.
Toasted cheese was served as a starter. The well-baked croissant smelt so good. It was effective enough to stimulate our hunger. Combined with cream cheese, the toasted croissant was very delicious.

After that, the media people were served with Twister, bread with slices of meat and melted cheese. It can be viewed as an alternative appetizer.

Then came the main course.

Clad in white uniforms, about 10 waiters especially assigned for the event brought the food to the tables. The main course was spicy bread called Hot Temptation.

Expected to be one of the favorite items among bread lovers, Hot Temptation is a combination of sausage and cheese on spicy bread.

Indeed, BreadTalk promotes Hot Temptation as a possible substitute for steak or rice. The dish will be even more tempting if accompanied by salad.

The last course was dessert. It was a combination of sweet and salty cream cheese plus green tea gelato called Sakura. The dessert is named after a popular Japanese flower.

Assistant public relations manager Muhammad Reza said that the event was aimed at introducing some of BreadTalk’s new creations. “We are also promoting bread as an alternative to rice,” he said.

Long known as an additional food among middle-class families here, globally, bread has become accepted as the second staple after rice.

The increasing demand for bread here seems to be due to people’s growing purchasing power and a better understanding of the nutritious qualities of bread.

Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) nutritionist Clara M. Kusharto said that the nutrition in bread is much better than that in rice and noodles.

“If we can promote bread, it might help the government in finding an alternative to rice,” she said. Four slices of bread, Clara added, have as many calories as a plate of rice.

“With creative and additional ingredients, the need for more nutrition can be fulfilled,” said Clara, who also eats bread frequently.

The nutritious elements of bread are vitamins, minerals and protein. Some essential fatty acids like Omega-3 and Omega-6, which are crucial for maintaining health, are also included in bread.

It can therefore be a good idea to shift from eating rice to bread. Indeed, bread could no longer be the last choice but could, instead, become the preferred one.

It is not surprising that more and more Indonesians are growing to love bread like Ririn and Evi.

“I’ve started to enjoy it,” Ririn said.

Kurniawan Hari