# Thickening sauces with bread



## cookers (Jun 11, 2011)

How do you thicken a sauce with toasted bread like chefs did before roux came about? Do you just put the bread into the sauce and let it soak up the liquid and break apart while cooking, or is there an actual technique to it such as making it into breadcrumbs and adding little by little?


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## djoko verona (Jul 26, 2012)

Two years ago i was working on Adriatic Sea ...Montenegro ..they have special way to prepare mussels in a white wine sauce...and garlic...and the only way to tick the sauce was bread crumps or old dry bread...

if you put fresh bread it will get soggy ...that's why i use only dry bread or ...bread crumps..

cheers


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## cookers (Jun 11, 2011)

Djoko Verona said:


> Two years ago i was working on Adriatic Sea ...Montenegro ..they have special way to prepare mussels in a white wine sauce...and garlic...and the only way to tick the sauce was bread crumps or old dry bread...
> 
> if you put fresh bread it will get soggy ...that's why i use only dry bread or ...bread crumps..
> 
> cheers


We have a LOT of left over dried out bread that we use for croutons, bread pudding, etc. Thanks for the advice!


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Soups used to be thickened with white bread in many hotels  in Europe ( but not toasted ).In fact there is an Italian Garlic Soup made this way. In particular chowders and potato soup.


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

chefedb said:


> In fact there is an Italian Garlic Soup made this way. In particular chowders and potato soup.


I make this soup, a hearty , rustic autumn/winter soup dish. I believe its called 'pappa al pomodoro'. A great way to get rid of leftover bread and you can jazz it up .

Petals.


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## succotash (Aug 10, 2011)

Look up "Mie de Pan". I use bread to thicken gazpacho (leaving all of the ingredients marinating with the bread overnight).  Many sauces you will want to soak the bread in cream  or milk, then puree it if you are using it to thicken an already finished sauce.  You can also add it to a sauce before you puree it.  If you are just trying to use up old bread you can just dry it out in the oven and put it through the grater attachment on the Hobart to make crumbs.


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## cookers (Jun 11, 2011)

I'm really not trying to use up any bread. Even so, we have so much that I wouldn't make a noticeable difference. I just picked up the book called sauces and I'm learning the really old school ways of doing things. Thickening sauces with bread was one of them, but it didn't explain so much as to how to add the bread in the sauce and when. I appreciate all the advice!


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Best way, trim crust and grate or put bread in robot coup and gring into crumbs so it is all undetectable. Many things were different years ago, we used to cook roux ahead of time in the oven( brown and Blond roux not white)


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