Basler Brot

Basler Brot is the dark, round country loaf of the city of Basel, easily recognised by its brown crust split in a star pattern across the top. It is a mixed-flour bread — wheat for a soft, pale crumb and rye for flavour and keeping — bound with sourdough and enriched with a small amount of honey, malt and a touch of lard or oil. The dough is shaped into a tight, round boule, left to prove slowly, and baked dark. The signature look is the deep cross or star cut into the surface before baking, which opens up in the oven and produces the craggy, crispy top that the bread is named for: Basler Brot literally means "Basel bread".

It is the bread of the Basel Zunft (guild) tables, eaten with mountain cheese, dried meat, Mostbröckli, butter and a sharp pickled gherkin. It is also the bread of the city's early-morning markets, where it is sold in paper bags from racks outside the bakeries. Like all Swiss country breads it keeps for a week and is excellent toasted.