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A loaf ( : loaves) is a (usually) rounded or oblong mass of food, typically and originally of bread. It is common to bake bread in a rectangular bread pan, also called a loaf pan, because some kinds of bread dough tend to collapse and spread out during the cooking process.Stanley Cauvain, Linda S. Young, ''Technology of Breadmaking'' , p. 146, 231, 380.Keith Cohen, ''Artisan Bread: Techniques & Recipes from New York's Orwasher's Bakery'' (2014), p. 59. Doughs with a thicker
A loaf ( : loaves) is a (usually) rounded or oblong mass of food, typically and originally of bread. It is common to bake bread in a rectangular bread pan, also called a loaf pan, because some kinds of bread dough tend to collapse and spread out during the cooking process.Stanley Cauvain, Linda S. Young, ''Technology of Breadmaking'' , p. 146, 231, 380.Keith Cohen, ''Artisan Bread: Techniques & Recipes from New York's Orwasher's Bakery'' (2014), p. 59. Doughs with a thicker viscosity
The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given rate. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for example, syrup has a higher viscosity than water.
Viscosity quantifies the inte ...
can be hand-molded into the desired loaf shape and cooked on a flat oven tray. The shape of doughs with a thinner viscosity can be maintained with a bread pan whose sides are higher than the uncooked dough.
The same principle applies to non-bread products such as meatloaf
Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat that has been combined with other ingredients and formed into the shape of a loaf, then baked or smoked. The final shape is either hand-formed on a baking tray, or pan-formed by cooking it in a loaf pan. It ...
and cakes that are cooked so as to retain their shape during the cooking process. In determining the size of the loaf, the cook or baker must take into consideration the need for heat to penetrate the loaf evenly during the cooking process, so that no parts are overcooked or undercooked. Many kinds of mass-produced
Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and batc ...
bread are distinctly squared, with well-defined corners on the bottom of the loaf. Loaves of rectangular shape can be made more or less identical, and can be packed and shipped efficiently.
Etymology
The modern English word loaf is derived from Old English ''hlaf'', 'bread', which in turn is fromProto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic bran ...
''*khlaibuz''. Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
''hleifr'', Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
''lev'', Old Frisian
Old Frisian was a West Germanic language spoken between the 8th and 16th centuries along the North Sea coast, roughly between the mouths of the Rhine and Weser rivers. The Frisian settlers on the coast of South Jutland (today's Northern Frie ...
''hlef'', Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
''hlaifs'', Old High German
Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050.
There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...
''hleib'' and modern German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
''Laib'' derive from this Proto-Germanic word, which was also borrowed into Slavic (Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
''chleb'', Russian ''khleb'') and Finnic ( Finnish ''leipä'', Estonian ''leib'') languages as well.
See also
* Cottage loaf, an English double-decker loaf of bread. * Malt loaf, a sweet dark bread, sometimes with fruit. *Meatloaf
Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat that has been combined with other ingredients and formed into the shape of a loaf, then baked or smoked. The final shape is either hand-formed on a baking tray, or pan-formed by cooking it in a loaf pan. It ...
, a meat dish shaped in the form of a loaf
* Nutraloaf, a type of food served in some US prisons.
* Sugarloaf
A sugarloaf was the usual form in which refined sugar was produced and sold until the late 19th century, when granulated and cube sugars were introduced. A tall cone with a rounded top was the end product of a process in which dark molasses, a ...
, a solid form that refined sugar has been sold in.
* Sandwich loaf, a layer-cake like party dish, made from a loaf of bread with savory fillings.
References