
A bread roll is a small, oblong individual loaf of
bread
Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...
served as a meal accompaniment (eaten plain or with
butter
Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...
).
Rolls can be served and eaten whole or are also commonly cut and filled – the result of doing so is considered a ''
sandwich'' in English.
Europe
Rolls are common throughout Europe. Even in the same languages, rolls are known by a variety of names. Some European languages have many local and dialectal terms for bread rolls. These include
German language
German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...
diminutives of ''Brot'' (bread) in most of western and central Germany (where they are called ''Brötchen'') and in Switzerland (where they are called ''Brötli''). Other German language terms include ''Rundstück'' ("round piece") in
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
and
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...
; ''Weckerl'' or more specific ''Semmel'' in
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
,
Saxony
Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...
and southern
Bavaria
Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
; ''Weck'' and ''Weckle'' in much of
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...
,
Franconia and
Saarland
Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...
; ''Schrippe'' in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
and parts of
Brandenburg
Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...
. Some of these names reappear in other European languages as well, for example as ''zsemle'' in
Hungarian, or ''rundstykker'' ("round pieces") in
Danish and
Norwegian.
In the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
they are called ''broodje''.
"Small bread" is also found as Italian ''
panino'', which also commonly denotes a stuffed small bread roll. The ''
Kaisersemmel'' reappears in Italy as the ''
Michetta'' or ''Rosetta''. In
Swedish, a bread roll is a ''(frukost) bullar'' ("(breakfast) buns"), ''franskbrödbullar'' ("french bread bun") or simply ''fralla'' ("bun"), comfort food eaten with butter and any kind of topping (marmalade, cheese, ham, salami) for special weekend breakfasts. The ''Doppelweck or Doppelbrötchen'' is a type of bread roll originating from the Saarland which consists of two rolls joined together side-by-side before baking.
There are many terms for a bread roll within the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
depending on region. These names include roll, and for a minority of the population (usually concentrated in specific regions) bap, barm cake, batch, breadcake, bun, cob, teacake and muffin.
A variety of rolls are found in Europe, from white rolls made with
wheat flour, to dark rolls containing mostly
rye flour. Many variants include spices, such as
coriander
Coriander (), whose leaves are known as cilantro () in the U.S. and parts of Canada, and dhania in parts of South Asia and Africa, is an annual plant, annual herb (''Coriandrum sativum'') in the family Apiaceae.
Most people perceive the ...
and
cumin, or nuts. Also common are bread rolls containing or garnished with whole seeds such as
sesame,
poppy
A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, '' Papaver somniferum'', is the source of the narcotic drug ...
,
pumpkin
A pumpkin is a cultivar, cultivated winter squash in the genus ''Cucurbita''. The term is most commonly applied to round, orange-colored squash varieties, but does not possess a scientific definition. It may be used in reference to many dif ...
or
sunflower.
See also
*
List of bread rolls
*
Bagel
*
Boule (bread)
*
Breakfast roll
*
Chicken fillet roll
*
Croissant
A croissant (, ) is a French cuisine, French pastry in a crescent shape made from a laminated yeast dough similar to puff pastry.
It is a buttery, flaky, ''viennoiserie'' pastry inspired by the shape of the Austrian cuisine, Austrian ''Kifli, ...
*
List of baked goods
*
List of breads
*
List of bread dishes
*
List of buns
*
Ovelgönne bread roll
*
Scuffler
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
German cuisine
Breads
British breads
French breads