Where do people buy bread to make tea sandwiches? Not Hovis, etc? [London]

[brokentelephone]

Having people over for tea and my fiancee/cook and I were trying to find good quality sandwich bread. We ended up getting Warburton 'Danish' light bread which was fine (the Hovis stuff we bought yesterday tasted absolutely awful), but was wondering if there are bakeries that sell good quality 'cheap' white bread?

Everyone seems pretty keen on Scandinavian seeded rye or 137-grain ultra heavy lead-based bread, but there doesn't seem to be a maker of good quality sandwich bread (obviously I prefer artisinal bread but sometimes square sandwich bread is preferable).

PS: Artisinal bread? Who am i?

[MoGa]

A bit late for this, sorry.
Another source for artisan sliced White breads are Japanese bakeries. Ask for shoku pan.

The best is at Tetote in Ealing (they have regular White and other flavours such as sesame seeds if you want to experiment a little), but you'll also find this style of sliced bread at the Japan Centre and at Umai in Westfield Stratford - right next to the Waitrose.

If you have a breadmachine or Kitchenaid to the kneading I can point you to a fabulous recipe for this kind of White bread, it's just a bit sweeter than these examples (and you need three days to complete the steps)

[zuriga1]

I'd love the recipe. My husband lived in Japan for many years, and I could surprise. him. We always make our own bread, and it would be a nice change of pace. My email, if thats easier, is under my profile. Thanks!

[MoGa]

Here's my favourite:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/22541/asianstyle-pain-de-mie
There's no mention in the Engilsh translation about shaping the dough for the final proof, but those instructions are included in this also very good recipe (a little easier to make).
http://en.christinesrecipes.com/2010/...
I use milk and no water for the tang zhong which makes a firm paste. The second bread is at its best (IMO) when toasted. The first is equally good with the crumb just pulled away in paper like strips whilst still warm from the oven. Both recipes have passed muster with Japanese friends, hope they are a hit at your home too!

[zuriga1]

Thanks!

[cathodetube]

You mentioned sweeter bread. I have discovered the sweetish Jamaican hard dough bread via a bakery near me. It comes in many different sizes and might also do the trick for tea sandwiches. By hard dough it just means that it doesn't rip when you spread things on it. It's not hard or crunchy at all.

[cathodetube]

Waitrose sell their own brand of sliced bread - brown and white - but don't know who makes it. I like the thin sliced version for grilled cheese sandwiches.

I also like the white tin loaf sold by Flour Power Bakery. They are at markets so won't have a slicing machine. It makes really good toast if you have any left over.

[babybat]

For tea sandwiches, look for a tender, slightly sweet bread - supermarket bloomer with the crusts cut off works well, or Warburton's Blackpool milk roll. Or look out for Pain de Mie in posh bakeries - maybe Baker and Spice or Gails will have it? It's really just a fancy version of Blackpool milk roll anyway...

[brokentelephone]

Hmmmm -- I purposely avoided Paul's milk-bread EGADS!

[themags]

You need to find a bakery where the signage looks like it hasn't changed since the 1950s and get a white loaf and have them put it in the slicing machine. If they sell sourdough run away! Raabs on Essex Road N1 and Robertson's on Lea Bridge Road E17 both bake on the premises every morning or the family-owned Percy Ingle chain which is all over East London into Essex due to their Hackney roots. You want the kind of place that does a good homemade sausage roll.

[brokentelephone]

Thanks! I'll look out next time I'm searching it out.