Loaf — Mediated Wiki

[[File:Výroba chleba (38).JPG|thumb|upright=1.35|A baker takes round loaves of fresh bread out of the oven with a peel]]

A '''loaf''' ({{plural form}}: '''loaves''') is a (usually) rounded or oblong quantity of food, typically and originally of bread.<ref>{{Cite book|title=American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language|edition= 4th |year=2003}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author-first1=Victoria |author-last1=Wise|author-first2= Susanna |author-last2=Hoffman|title=The Well-filled Microwave Cookbook|year=1996|page= 100}}</ref> It is common to bake bread in a rectangular bread pan or loaf pan because some kinds of bread dough tend to collapse and spread out during the cooking process if not constrained;<ref name="Cauvain">{{Cite book|author-first1=Stanley |author-last1=Cauvain|author-first2= Linda S. |author-last2=Young|title=Technology of Breadmaking|pages= 146, 231, 380}}</ref><ref name="Cohen">{{Cite book|author-first1=Keith |author-last1=Cohen|title=Artisan Bread: Techniques & Recipes from New York's Orwasher's Bakery|year=2014|page= 59}}</ref> the shape of less viscous doughs can be maintained with a bread pan whose sides are higher than the uncooked dough.<ref name="Cauvain"/> More viscous doughs can be hand-moulded into the desired loaf shape and cooked on a flat oven tray.<ref name="Cohen"/>

The same principle applies to non-bread products such as meatloaf and cakes that are cooked so as to retain their shape during the cooking process. In determining the size of the loaf, the cook or baker must take into consideration the need for heat to penetrate the loaf evenly during the cooking process, so that no parts are overcooked or undercooked. Many kinds of mass-produced bread are distinctly squared, with well-defined corners on the bottom of the loaf. Loaves of rectangular shape can be made more or less identical, and can be packed and shipped efficiently.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

==Etymology== The modern English word loaf is derived from Old English ''hlaf'', 'bread', which in turn is from Proto-Germanic ''*khlaibuz''.<ref name=etym>{{OEtymD|bread}}</ref> Old Norse ''hleifr'', Swedish ''lev'', Old Frisian ''hlef'', Gothic ''hlaifs'', Old High German ''hleib'' and modern German ''Laib'' derive from this Proto-Germanic word, which was also borrowed into Slavic (Polish ''chleb'', Russian ''khleb'') and Finnic (Finnish ''leipä'', Estonian ''leib'') languages as well.<ref>{{cite book|quote=Slavic langues retain many Gothic words, reflecting cultural borrowings: thus ''khleb'', (bread) from an earlier ''khleiba'' from Gothic ''hlaifs'', or, rather, from the more ancient form ''hlaibhaz'', which meant bread baked in an oven (and, probably, made with yeast), as different from a l-iepekha, which was a flat cake moulded (liepiti) from paste, and baked on charcoal. [the same nominal stem *hlaibh- has been preserved in modern English as loaf; cf. Lord, from ancient ''hlafweard'' bread-keeper] |author-last1=Diakonov|author-first1= I. M. |title= The paths of history |page=79 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|year= 1999 |isbn=0521643988}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Etymology of the Word 'Bread' |date=2 August 2013 |url=http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/ingredients/article/the-etymology-of-the-word-bread |publisher=Bon Appetit |accessdate=30 September 2016|author-last1=Dean|author-first1=Sam}}</ref>

==See also== * Cottage loaf, an English double-decker loaf of bread * Malt loaf, a sweet dark bread, sometimes with fruit * Meatloaf, a meat dish shaped in the form of a loaf * Nutraloaf, a type of food served in some US prisons * Sugarloaf, a solid form of refined sugar * Sandwich loaf, a layer-cake like party dish, made from a loaf of bread with savory fillings. * Zwieback * Japanese milk bread * Tiger bread

== References == {{Wiktionary|loaf}} <references/>

Category:Breads