Sugarless Banana Bread & Gambang Bread Re-Visited
Hey! You! Yes, you! Thank you! Because it’s been a year since the last World Bread Day and you’re still around! You deserve a star for loyalty and dedication to bread. Just like Zorra. Yes, Zorra is again holding the World Bread Day (update: visit the roundup here) and I excitingly wanna take part of it, because she is a wonderful person and bread is just delish to begin with. I’m not just saying this because I want to bribe her to pass this post as qualified for the event *is it so obvious?*, but because I mean it, and I think all foodbloggers must always come together to take all the world and make a new peaceful food-oriented civilization. Who’s with me???
Ok, enough.
I wanted to re-visit the post of Roti Gambang I made last year, because… strangely, I suddenly have this urge to promote my country. It’s weird. First of all, I never knew that I have even a slightest hint of nationalism toward my country whatsoever. Yeah, go ahead judge me! I’m just being brutally honest. I never thought I have any. Second of all, I think it’s just cool to see the words “Gambang Bread” among the list of bread names from around the world compiled by the wonderful Zorra. Hey politicians, look, we put you on the map by baking bread!
Enough.
Gambang bread is an Indonesian traditional bread, made from bread scraps. Bakeries usually have lots of leftover fresh breadcrumbs, so they turned it into a delicious bread that can add to their sales. Yea, baby, we’re a pro in turning garbage into delicious food. That’s how we survived colonialism and Krakatau. This skill of turning crap into gold has made us one of the happiest nations in the world, no matter what had happened.
This is a chewy, cinnamony bread bar that looks pretty in its sesame seed dress. The homemade version recipe uses ready-made breadcrumbs you usually use for coating, because we certainly do not want to bake hundreds of bread loaves and collect the scraps. It’s very easy to make and certainly will color your afternoon happy. You know, along with a cup of hot tea and a good book in hand. It’s just the simple, yet perfect, comfort bread. Comfort bread indeed.
Gambang Bread recipe here.
Have I re-visited Gambang Bread, now onto the actual recent baking. This Sugarless Banana Bread is one of my favorites of all the breads of all time. You think your life is miserable without sugar? Well, after baking this, think again! Hell yeah, it’s sweet! It’s sweet, and fragrant, and very banana, and contains more fiber, more complex carbohydrate, and lower cholesterol… Okay, I’ll stop talking like a health-freak, and you stop throwing things on me!
One word: you must try this at home.
Ow yea, I sell this for one hundred fifty thousand rupiahs a loaf. Expensive? Think again.
Happy World Bread Day, everybody. What can we do without breads really? May Allah bless the inventor.
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