i.e. bread rolls. Most countries have versions of bread rolls as well as large loaves. Convenience and speed are probably the main reasons, as small rolls need much less proving and baking time than loaves, and so can be produced relatively quickly for breakfast. There is no precise delineation between rolls and buns, except that rolls are generally plain or savoury, made from ordinary or slightly enriched bread dough, and served with savoury foods. Buns are generally sweet.
The simplest rolls are round or oval in shape, such as English dinner rolls. One of the simplest variations is provided by the French and Belgian pistolet, which is a plain roll but split down the middle to give a two-lobed effect. Bakers may of course display their skill by shaping rolls into knots or other decorative shapes. One fancy shape is the French tabatière (snuffbox), a round, pouch-like roll with a ‘flap’ at one side.
The ‘pocket’ theme is echoed by what is perhaps the most famous roll in N. America, the Parker House roll. Mariani (1994) explains that this puffy yeast roll with a creased centre was created at the Parker House Hotel in Boston soon after its opening in 1855; and that they are ‘sometimes called “pocket-book rolls” because of their purse-like appearance’. From this local beginning they have become a standard item on American tables.
Another American item described by Mariani is the kaiser roll (also called Vienna roll or hard roll), which takes it name from the German word for emperor, this because in shape it resembles a crown. It is believed to have originated in Vienna, and was brought to America by German and Jewish immigrants. Crisp and light, it can be made into sandwiches or eaten as a breakfast roll. It is often topped with poppyseeds.
Aberdeen rowies (also known as Aberdeen butteries or butterie rowies) are small breakfast rolls, enriched with butter by a process of rolling and folding similar to that employed for making croissants. The shape is roughly oval. A speciality of the Scottish city of Aberdeen, where they are eaten warm, usually for breakfast and spread with butter and marmalade.
A split, filled roll is the basis for some of the world's most popular snack foods, such as the sesame-topped bun enclosing a hamburger, and the soft white finger roll which forms the basis for a hot dog. Such breads are very similar to ‘bridge rolls’, a British party and buffet standby for many years. These small fingers of enriched white dough, baked closely together so that the sides almost touch, thus remaining soft, are usually split in half and served open, covered with some sort of topping.
There are many other baked items which verge on being rolls but are usually perceived as being in some other neighbouring category such as buns or tea breads and tea cakes. For two examples of these other items see ensaimada; huffkins.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
Mariani, John (1994), The Dictionary of American Food and Drink, 2nd rev edn, New York: Hearst.
