I don’t think I’ve ever fully bought into the idea of the breadstick. What about the shape of a stick makes bread any better? Though a thinner cylinder of bread may be easier to bite into than a loaf, will you at least grant me the point that a bread stick dries out much faster than a round or rectangular loaf of bread? I like bread crust as a general matter, but will you not concede that the inner parts of bread, aka everything but the crust, is the best, softest, loveliest part of bread? And do you not also see that breadsticks, given their shape, inherently require a higher crust to inner bread ratio? Thus, making breadsticks inherently inferior to a normal oval loaf of bread? I don’t mean to be aggressive, but I can’t help but question the philosophy of going out of one’s way to make breadsticks, when clearly a loaf is better AND less work.
To all the Olive Garden lovers who rave about their bottomless breadsticks, I tell you now, that OG is just not that good. The food is subpar and the restaurant lacks any charm. If the only thing you can love about it are their breadsticks, then there must be something wrong with the restaurant to begin with because breadsticks are also not very good. May I suggest, instead, Panera? If you’re going for a chain restaurant that specializes in carbohydrates, why not go to one that at least has fantastic loaves of sourdough, wheat, and just about every other kind of bread on tap. Plus, at Panera, you can order a cup of their tomato soup, which is my favorite. But that’s besides the point.
Clearly Alison’s breadsticks did little to sway me. I appreciated her additions of sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and parmesan, which made them a little like everything-bagel breadsticks. But sadly, they dried out after just an hour and a half of sitting on the table during dinner. This was a product of the sticks being so thin -- she instructs you to cut the dough into 1/4th inch thick strips. Also, because they’re so thin, the breadsticks completely forfeited one of the most important functions of bread with dinner: dipping. There was simple not enough surface space to soak up and absorb the short rib juices (the main course).
Sadly, this side is one of those that I made for the project, but don’t see the point in making again. I think I’ll stick with my bread loaves for dinner.
166 recipes cooked, 59 to go.
