Skip to main content

Bread and Butter and Salt

1.0

(1)

You’d think that a recipe for bread and butter and salt would be unnecessary. But I truly believe that one of life’s greatest eating pleasures consists of a loaf of wonderful crusty bread, sweet butter or olive oil, and salt. Those three components, eaten with your hands and shared among friends, truly is a sustaining combination. The country loaf from Tartine is pictured.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    serves you well

Ingredients

A loaf of good crusty bread
Unsalted butter from pasture-raised cows, barely cool or at room temperature
Plain ol’ kosher or a fancy kind of salt

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Rip a hunk of bread off the loaf (use a knife if you must, but I swear it tastes better if you tear it). Smear the bread with some butter—be generous—and sprinkle with salt. Eat recklessly, and pay no attention to the inevitable crumbs (unless you want to eat them, which is even better).

    Step 2

    If you like, gild the lily with boquerones (marinated Spanish anchovies) or thin-sliced dry-cured ham.

Bi-Rite Market's Eat Good Food
Read More
Keep this easy frittata recipe on hand for quick breakfasts, impressive brunches, and fridge clean-out meals.
Turn humble onions into this thrifty yet luxe pasta dinner.
An ex-boyfriend’s mom—who emigrated from Colombia—made the best meat sauce—she would fry sofrito for the base and simply add cooked ground beef, sazón, and jarred tomato sauce. My version is a bit more bougie—it calls for caramelized tomato paste and white wine—but the result is just as good.
We’ve got grilled lemongrass chicken, a fresh tomato michelada, and stonefruit salami panzanella.
Like basil chicken stir-fry and “company-worthy” cod.
Chicken salad, pasta salad, and Caesar salad, all in one.
Like miso-peanut hibachi chicken and spring orzotto.
This chicken salad nails it—creamy, herby, and endlessly riffable.