The big chains have their own appeal, they will stock more adventurous types of buns, or buns that are too difficult or too expensive for the small bakeries to produce. I love the pineapple buns with barbecued pork filling from the Taste supermarket bakeries, for example. However, if you read Raj Patel's Stuffed and Starved, you'll understand the importance of supporting small businesses. It's not just good for them, but good for everyone. And read the book, it's simply marvelous, and Raj Patel is a damn prophet.
Anyway, to return to the topic of this entry, I thought I'd take some photos to explain what the different buns are, and to also explain some important etiquette issues.
When you enter a bakery, you will notice tongs and trays by the door. Pick a tray and a pair of tongs up because bakeries are self-serve. I hate it when expats (why are these people so fucking rude?) and tourists come in and demand to be served. Bitch, you blind or just retarded?!
The buns are all in display cases, which may be left open or closed. Either way, if you have to sneeze, close the damn displays! Otherwise, the auntie will come and yell at you.
Anyway, plain loaves on the left, multigrain "healthy" buns on the right.
From left to right: pork fluff buns, ham and salad dressing buns and buttercream buns.
Ham and egg buns, Spam with egg bun, bread with tuna filling.
Plain pineapple buns on the left. Now, these are called pineapple buns because of their appearance (the top looks like the skin of a pineapple), NOT because they are pineapple-flavoured. They simply taste buttery, and the top part is crumbly and sweet, like an apple crumble.
Some people like to squish the bun flat before eating it to prevent the crumbly bits from falling off, but I really dislike eating it like that. I like to bite into the fluffiness, you know? So what I personally like to do is eat the edges of the bun first to catch all the bits that might fall and work my way into the centre. If you have your own foolproof pineapple bun-eating method, please do let me know.
On the right are raisin buns.
I'm trying to remember what the leftmost bread is. I think it's just plain buns. Next is barbecued pork bun (delicious, you can never go wrong with this choice), sausage and cheese bun and pineapple bun with red bean filling.
According to the names, from left to right:
Sweet dinner rolls, cheese mini-loaf, crab salad bun, and coconut bread. I like the sweet dinner rolls (it's not really that sweet) with a nice cup of tea. The cheese bread is okay, but it's only got cheese on the top of the bread.
Hotdog buns on the left, ham and cheese (warning, these may contain mayonnaise, ugh!) on the right.
I got a barbecued pork bun. Here it is with a big bite out of it.
