Ah, no.

This comes to us today from Adam Davis, a writer for Buzzfeed, who posted a column, “21 Foods New England Does Better Than Anywhere Else.” While I cannot argue with any of the regional specialities listed — especially the Fluffernutter, fried clams and frozen lemonade —  the example given for No. 10 “Bread Roll” is laughable (besides it’s redundant).

“The art of the pre-dinner roll when you’re out to eat has been perfected by Bertucci’s,” Buzzed the writer. “They are just. so. amazing.”

Bertucci’s dinner rolls — or “sinkers,” as my hubby calls them — appear to be pizza dough shaped into balls and baked. A sinker cannot compare to, say, a Parker House roll that, if baked properly, can be downright ethereal for serious bread eaters. Truthfully, I nearly wept when I took my first bite of a Parker House roll at Puritan & Company. They are just. so. amazing.

There are thousands of bakeries and restaurants all over New England that churn out delicious house-made dinner rolls. They set the bar high. You want to talk pizza dough? Sure, Bertucci’s is good. I’m a fan. But rolls? That’s just crazy talk.

This Thanksgiving, I will make snowflake rolls, a favorite of my girls Melanie, 5, and Paige, 4, as well as their late great-grandmother. Mel will devour at least three of Auntie’s flour-dusted little rolls, so the recipe, as per usual, will be doubled.

My rolls, snowflake or otherwise, always won high praise from Nana, who died last spring at 101 years old. So I will take special care this holiday when I bake them in her honor. (I’m also preparing her family’s Portuguese turkey stuffing. Talk about pressure.)

My grandmother, who owned a bakery in East Providence, R.I. and later began our family’s bakery supply business, adored “good bread” and never ate a meal without it. And I loved her for it.

“Bread and butter,” Nan would say with a wave of the hand. “That’s all you need.”

However, I don’t think  she ever weighed in on pizza dough…

The recipe I use for “60-Minute Snowflake Rolls” is in the Holiday 2008 edition of “The Baking Sheet” published by King Arthur Flour. I do not have permission to reprint it here, and I cannot find it online. However, there are a few recipes that are just as good on the company’s website such as this one for “Big Batch Quick Dinner Rolls.” If you do find the elusive Snowflake Roll recipe from ’08, retard the rolls overnight in the refrigerator to enhance the flavor. 

 

Tags: #adamdavis #puritanandco, #bakeries, #bertuccis, #buzzfeed, #dinnerrolls, #fluffernutter, #KingArthurFlour, #parkerhouserolls, #thanksgiving, #thanksgivingdinner, bread