Remember when you’d go out to a restaurant and the first thing a server would put on the table was bread? Of course you do, at least if you’re over 30. In fact, restaurants sometimes went out of their way to prove just how bread-forward they were. I recall, quite fondly, the times when a linen napkin-covered basket filled with several types of bread all artfully arranged around a ramekin of warm butter would appear. Then there’d be the admonishment, “Don’t ruin your dinner.” Which did nothing to deter everyone from lunging for a piece of that delicious goodness.
Today, however, bread is rarely offered in restaurants, unless it’s part of a sandwich. And when I ask for some to go with my dinner, I’ve watched servers, hand over heart, exclaim, “We don’t serve bread!” as if I’d just asked about scoring some cocaine.
So what gives? First, bread costs money and patrons often expect it to be free, especially older folks who remember the good old days when, well, of course the bread was free. Note that I’m not one of them. I’m happy to pay for bread, and am often perplexed when informed that the restaurant does not serve bread just as a burger in a nice fat bun is delivered to the next table.
There is some evidence that serving bread prevents patrons from ordering appetizers, further cutting into a restaurant’s bottom line. I can see that. So, again, just charge me for the bread, don’t deny me those scrumptious carbs alltogether.
I also understand that those nice bread baskets sometimes were wasted, since bread got a bad rap somewhere around the time the gluten-free craze began. It’s amazing, don’t you think, that just 4% of people actually have a medical reason to follow a gluten-free diet, and yet given all the food labels that scream Gluten Free!, you’d think it was a scourge affecting the masses. It’s not. Note that it’s 18-34 year-olds who are most interested in avoiding gluten, so perhaps I should be angry with them when I can’t get a piece a bread.
I guess we can also blame the paleo diet for our inability to munch on a warm buttered baguette or a nice slice of sourdough, since all forms of cereal grains are verboten for people on that regimen, which is rather perplexing since the program is meant to mimic the way our ancient ancestors consumed food. Scientists now believe that our hunter-gatherer forebearers were eating bread 14,000 years ago and that carbohydrates were essential to human evolution, so that it’s stricken from today’s tables seems odd, don’t you think? Note that it’s mostly those in the 25-44 age group who tend to follow the paleo diet. (See where I’m going here?)
Now, I’m not a dope. I understand that copious amounts of bread are not good for us. Everything in moderation and all. Still, I think it’s time we stopped demonizing bread. I, for one, will emulate my ancient ancestors and continue eating bread. With every meal.
And don’t try to stop me!
Your Forgotten Sons
Inspired by a true story
Anne Montgomery
Bud Richardville is inducted into the Army as the United States prepares for the invasion of Europe in 1943. A chance comment has Bud assigned to a Graves Registration Company, where his unit is tasked with locating, identifying, and burying the dead. Bud ships out, leaving behind his new wife, Lorraine, a mysterious woman who has stolen his heart but whose secretive nature and shadowy past leave many unanswered questions. When Bud and his men hit the beach at Normandy, they are immediately thrust into the horrors of what working in a graves unit entails. Bud is beaten down by the gruesome demands of his job and losses in his personal life, but then he meets Eva, an optimistic soul who despite the war can see a positive future. Will Eva’s love be enough to save him?
Release Date: June 6, 2024
Bookstores, libraries, and other booksellers can order copies directly from the Ingram Catalog.
Anne Montgomery’s novels can be found wherever books are sold.
Author Anne Montgomery 