Bread sommeliers apparently really do exist, and we are in love

Everyone has heard of sommeliers, the professional wine tasters whose job it is to know everything about wine and wine pairings. Sommeliers’ expertise extends to everything from which wine goes with charcuterie to spices that seem almost impossible to pair with wine. But you may have wondered why there aren’t sommeliers for other foods with different types. Why isn’t there a sommelier for something like bread?

As it turns out, there is. Although the trend is recent, the German Bakery Academy (and try saying that three times in quick succession) launched a bread sommelier program in 2015. The results exceeded their wildest expectations, and today there are dozens of graduates from Germany, Austria, and Italy who are certified “bread sommeliers,” including relatively well-known ones like Axel Schmitt, who is called the “Wacken Baker,” and Michael Kress. The trend is not slowing down, and in 2023 the German Bakery Academy began offering courses in English for the first time.

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Bread sommeliers examine bread alone and in combination with other foods

But what does a bread sommelier actually do? Pretty much the same thing a sommelier does for wine, just with delicious loaves of bread. Bread sommeliers taste bread, smell bread closely and intensely (which, let’s be honest, is the same thing), test loaves and crusts for texture—all the things you’d expect a wine sommelier to do with a glass and a bottle. Like wine sommeliers, they also invest a lot of time studying the history, cultural scope, and mechanical processes that go into their chosen field.

Just like a wine sommelier, the most important part of a bread sommelier’s job may be mastering the pairings. That bread pairings are so important should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on rye bread out of desperation and realized their mistake too late. Bread sommeliers work not only to understand the classic pairings between bread and other foods (and drinks), but also to discover new pairings by pushing the boundaries of bread science and trying innovative combinations.

Bread sommeliers somehow make perfect sense

If the idea of ​​a bread sommelier seems strange to you, consider that bread is one of the most universal and diverse foods in the world. In Germany alone, 3,200 different types of bread are registered. The taste of bread can vary greatly. There is no real argument that wheat bread, bagels, naan and lavash bread do not feel and taste completely different. The main difference between a bread sommelier and a wine sommelier is that pretty much everyone who does not have a gluten intolerance or allergy eats bread, while wine is a bit more specific (and in many countries, only available to adults). So the job of a bread sommelier could rightly be considered more universal.

Of course, there aren’t just wine and bread sommeliers: There are also sommeliers for cheese, coffee, beer, meat, rice, and pretty much every other common food you can think of. Now just wait until water sommeliers become the next big thing.

Read the original article on The Daily Meal.