HAL bread is not very interesting

[whogo]

HAL's richer, European butter may have been the reason we preferred HAL's bread over our previous cruise line's bread. I did not enjoy the bread as much on our last HAL cruise with US butter. Years ago HAL bragged of baking all their bread products except hamburger buns.

 

 

 

I would bet that gastronomes would fail a blind taste test between bread made with fresh dough and frozen dough.

 

 

 

I like hard crusts if they were intended to be hard.

[cbr663]

Bread is a topic that has not been done to death, like say alcohol policy or extension cords. It was pleasant to read the comments. I wish it hadn't turned contentious.

 

(y)(y)

 

I agree. HAL's bread is a simple illustration of the direction that HAL has chosen with its foods and its heavy reliance on processed and mass produced foods. For many of us, this is seen as a step down in quality.

[fatcat04]

I agree, and often wished they had the icing Xs. LOL

 

As I said in a post that was deleted for mysterious reasons , I have to try these raisin buns or raisin challah. They sound fantastic and I am a sucker for sweet or lightly sweet raisin or current breads. Are they just a breakfast item and only available in the Lido? My family often does room service for breakfast now so I know I miss out on some goodies in the am. I'm the early bird so I often take care of grabbing early coffee.

[Walfam]

? . . I have to try these raisin buns or raisin challah. They sound fantastic and I am a sucker for sweet or lightly sweet raisin or current breads. Are they just a breakfast item and only available in the Lido? .

 

They were in the Lido, at the very beginning of the traditional breakfast line, self serve via tongs. The only item that was self serve, IIRC. Sorry, I cannot recall if they were available at lunch, as we usually ate elsewhere.

 

 

While on a two-week trip thru Italy several years ago, our Tauck tour director, an American who had been living in Italy for 14 yrs, said Italians do not dip their bread into olive oil, so we weren't going to see that. And we didn't. I'm sure butter was always available. I rarely pass up bread.

 

 

Dinner breads in MDR on the NA were nice, on our recent cruise. Some winners, some losers, just like restaurants on land.

[TiogaCruiser]

As I said in a post that was deleted for mysterious reasons , I have to try these raisin buns or raisin challah. They sound fantastic and I am a sucker for sweet or lightly sweet raisin or current breads. Are they just a breakfast item and only available in the Lido? My family often does room service for breakfast now so I know I miss out on some goodies in the am. I'm the early bird so I often take care of grabbing early coffee.

I wouldn’t classify the raisin rolls as challah- at least all the examples of challah I have had have been soft and fluffy. These rolls are not fluffy. They are substantial. The recipe contains lots of butter.

 

I’ve only seen them at breakfast. Zaandam had them mixed with other breads. Veendam had them with the continental breakfast items. (I frequently met the staff member as he put them out at 0-dark-30 and snitched one with my coffee).

[fatcat04]

I wouldn’t classify the raisin rolls as challah- at least all the examples of challah I have had have been soft and fluffy. These rolls are not fluffy. They are substantial. The recipe contains lots of butter.

 

I’ve only seen them at breakfast. Zaandam had them mixed with other breads. Veendam had them with the continental breakfast items. (I frequently met the staff member as he put them out at 0-dark-30 and snitched one with my coffee).

 

Nice. That sounds so good and me here sipping coffee and hungry. I love rich buttery breads. I make a super buttery eggy white bread myself and it somehow magically disappears almost as soon as it is cool enough to eat. Must be the gnomes :p

[colonialinnkeeper]

What exactly is a "salt stick"?

[avian777]

salt stick

NOUN

1. a crusty bread roll sprinkled with salt crystals, made in the shape of a cylinder.

[Sea42]

 

 

While on a two-week trip thru Italy several years ago, our Tauck tour director, an American who had been living in Italy for 14 yrs, said Italians do not dip their bread into olive oil, so we weren't going to see that. And we didn't. I'm sure butter was always available. I rarely pass up bread.

 

 

Perhaps it's one of those "Mustn't wear white after Labor Day" things.:confused:

[sail7seas]

Perhaps it's one of those "Mustn't wear white after Labor Day" things.:confused:

 

 

You are showing your age. That is from a time long ago :)

[KroozNut]

I limited myself to two or three per day. ;)

 

You mean 'to gaining two or three pounds per day'? ;p

[Sea42]

You are showing your age. That is from a time long ago :)

Yes, it was meant as an outdated reference. ;)

[Roz]

salt stick

NOUN

1. a crusty bread roll sprinkled with salt crystals, made in the shape of a cylinder.

 

Yes, that's exactly how I remember them from my childhood.

 

Roz

[expectGREATthings]

I totally disagree with the OP. I think the breads and rolls are some of the best I've ever had. More along the line of European baked goods than American. This June I had a tour of the bakery on the Veendam. I was very impressed. Everyone has a right to their own opinion and now you know mine.

Thanks,

Michael von Schlederer

[sail7seas]

Yes, it was meant as an outdated reference. ;)

 

Well, then, :D Good for me. I caught your sublty.

[jode]

I wouldn’t classify the raisin rolls as challah- at least all the examples of challah I have had have been soft and fluffy. These rolls are not fluffy. They are substantial. The recipe contains lots of butter.

 

I’ve only seen them at breakfast. Zaandam had them mixed with other breads. Veendam had them with the continental breakfast items. (I frequently met the staff member as he put them out at 0-dark-30 and snitched one with my coffee).

 

I didn't see the raisin rolls on the Veendam two weeks ago - as I was avoiding the rolls/bread items at breakfast. But once I saw and tried the raisin bread all bets were off for the rest of the week!

 

The raisin "bread" is like a challah - soft, eggy and delicious - with lots of raisins - and as I mentioned earlier I am not a fan of usual raisin bread.

 

I think the OP was poking the bear with his post. The baked breads - either made from wheat grown by the engine and milled (ha ha) or frozen - HAL's baked goods were excellent and the variety at each meal was wonderful.

[rafinmd]

What exactly is a "salt stick"?

 

This is a salt stick from the Crystal Serenity (upper left quadrant):

 

You can kind of see some large crystals of salt scattered around the crust. One difference between HAL and Crystal is that there's no bread on the table; instead the waiters bring it around and use tongs to place a piece of bread on your plate. There are usually about 3 or 4 varieties of bread to choose among; some are there every day while others rotate in and out. I will usually choose perhaps one salt stick or so per week.

 

Roy

[kazu]

As I said in a post that was deleted for mysterious reasons , I have to try these raisin buns or raisin challah. They sound fantastic and I am a sucker for sweet or lightly sweet raisin or current breads. Are they just a breakfast item and only available in the Lido? My family often does room service for breakfast now so I know I miss out on some goodies in the am. I'm the early bird so I often take care of grabbing early coffee.

 

They are available in the MDR at breakfast as well as the Pinnacle Grill (if you are in a Neptune Suite or above).

 

I don't recall seeing them at lunch or dinner. They are my weakness and I have been known to have one at breakfast on occasion. ;)

[iancal]

Man does not live by bread alone.

 

 

If there are no raisin rolls on your cruise then we will never set foot on another HAL ship again. Cutbacks are right to the bone.

[ElaineKeagy]

I'd forgotten all about salt sticks until this thread. I grew up in Pittsburgh, and remember my father bringing them home from work in the late 1950s/early to mid-60s. He bought them at a German bakery, and they were an acquired taste. ;)

 

 

 

Roz

 

 

 

Are you talking about those breadsticks that are like a soft pretzel consistency and are rolled in kosher or coarse salt? Are those salt sticks?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Roz]

Are you talking about those breadsticks that are like a soft pretzel consistency and are rolled in kosher or coarse salt? Are those salt sticks?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Yes

[ElaineKeagy]

Yes

 

 

 

S O O O O ...... Y U M M Y

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Durack0830]

Question- is the white bread sweet? In Australia it istbut when we travel to Asia it’s very sweet. Don’t like sweet white bread for breakfast- especially with eggs

[Koali]

I love the bread on the HAL ships! I don’t care for variety. I just discovered the raisin bun served in the lido at breakfast and wished I had tried it earlier on my 4 other cruises. I enjoy ensayma (spelling?) bread. On the recent cruise on the Maasdam, it was the best ever. The bread was fluffy, not dry and right amount of flavor. I also like the plain dinner rolls served in the main dining room and canneletto. I had heard a few years ago on a kitchen tour that they make all the bread on board from scratch except for bagels and sliced bread. If it’s not true now, I can’t tell the difference!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RedneckBob]

The only rolls I notice on HAL are the rolls around my waist :eek: