Bread

Various leavened breads

Naan, a leavened flatbread from India and Persia

Flour

Wheat flour

Flour is a powder made of cereal grains or roots. It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many civilizations, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history. Wheat flour is one of the most important foods in European and North American culture, and is the defining ingredient in most European styles of breads and pastries. Maize flour has been important in Mesoame...

Dough

Dough

Rolling of atta dough during the preparation of chapati.

Dough is a paste made out of any cereals (grains) or leguminous crops by mixing the flour with a small amount of water. This step is a precursor to making bread, pasta, noodles, tortillas, crusts, dumplings, pastry, cookies, and muffins.

In many parts of central India, people use the quick method of making an instant roasted dough ball or baati. In countries in the Sahel, groun...

Shortening

Strutto, or clarified pork fat, a type of shortening common in Italy.

Shortening is a semisolid fat used in food preparation, especially baked goods, and is so called because it promotes a "short" or crumbly texture (as in shortbread). Shortening is basically just fat or lard from an animal or vegetable. The term "shortening" can be used more broadly to apply to any fat that is used for baking and which is solid at room temperature, such as butter, lard, or margarine. S...