Recently I posted a random question on FB.

What was the best thing before sliced bread?

Now I did receive some responses to the question:

1) Chapati

2) Unsliced Bread

3) Naan

4) Tabasco

Let’s take “Unsliced Bread”. For the first 15 years of sliced bread it was a complete failure. Nobody knew about it. Those who did, didn’t buy it. Now, unsliced bread can’t be the “best thing”, since there wouldn’t be any incentive to keep making sliced bread despite decreasing sales. There must’ve been, infact, a dire need for changing unsliced bread to something better. So unsliced bread – probably not. That leaves Chapati, Tabasco and Naan.

Sliced bread machine was invented in 1912 and the model burnt down in a fire the same year. The final machine was tried in 1925, and till 1940 no one bought it. In 1943 US actually BANNED sliced bread for expensive packaging reasons. Tabasco was invented in 1868. Although it is still popular but you have to put it ON something and it is not a staple diet! Chapati and Naan date back to early Indus and Arabic civilisations. So Tabasco is probably out.

That leaves Chapati and Naan.

Considering that cooking in hearth furnaces was all the rage during early times of civilisation, Chapati and Naan have been around for long. Now out of these two – NAAN is probably an earlier invention, since it can be made in a hearth furnace, doesn’t require the use of utensils (people discovered metals much later) and does not require that much finesse in making. Its a thick lump of flour as compared to a finely leavened flat circled chapati – which is a more delicate thing to prepare. So Naan was probably by far the easiest food to prepare, light and healthy, portable and tasty.

Although in the UK and EU they still call Naan as “Naan Bread”, I’d say the best thing before sliced bread was probably Naan!! At least out of the answers given.

What do you think?