Breadcrumb
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Breadcrumbs or bread crumbs (regional variants: breading, crispies) are small particles of dry bread, which are used for breading foods, topping casseroles, stuffing poultry, thickening stews, and adding inexpensive bulk to meatloaves and similar dishes.
However the crumb of bread also may refer to the inner soft part, as distinguished from the crust.
Dry breadcrumbs are made from very dry bread, often baked or toasted to remove all remaining moisture, and may have a sandy or even powdery texture. They make for a crisp and crunchy coating for fried foods. The bread used to make soft or fresh bread crumbs is not quite as dry, so the crumbs are larger and produce a softer coating, crust, or stuffing. Bread crumbs are most easily produced by pulverizing slices of bread in a food processor, using a steel blade to make coarse crumbs, or a grating blade to make fine crumbs. A cheese grater or similar tool will also do.
In the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel two young children attempt to mark their trail by leaving breadcrumbs on their path.
In many fiction movies breadcrumbs atract mice.
In comedy, breadcrumbs (like marbles and rocks) have been used synonymously with one's brains or grey matter (e.g. rocks in one's head, lost one's marbles or breadcrumbs)
Italian breadcrumbs are often larger than generic processed bread crumbs due to the more natural chemical makeup of Italian breads.
