A case for loafing about

Taylor Swift apparently spends 60% of her time talking about bread ("it's a loaf story," to quote her)—as I learnt from a reel I came across while trying to avoid getting down to the real work of the day (or should I say loafing about)—and it made me wonder when we became so obsessed about what came out of a packet and was eaten when we were sick.

- SHALINI UMACHANDRAN

Bread is no longer just white and sliced—it's now crusty, fermented, proofed, pillow-soft, charred, dipped in oils, studded with seeds. And in India it's gone beyond naan, roti, parotta, poori, khambir, poee, pav, or any of the zillions of regional variations as chefs are dusting off old recipes, creating new ones, and serving them in excitingly delicious ways, as we report this week. It's led to a new wave of bakers and chefs opening up speciality bread and sando shops for customers who want to feel virtuous about their health goals eve