Pita Bread

2009 CHEFSBEST® AWARD FOR BEST TASTE WINNER

Claim Language: The ChefsBest Award for Best Taste is awarded to the brand rated highest overall among leading brands by independent professional chefs.

Thomas'

What Makes Great Pita Bread?

Pita bread has become increasingly popular in the U.S. in recent decades, and it's easy to see why. It's an uncommonly versatile bread, lending itself easily to dipping, snacking on its own, or as part of a sandwich. Many pita varieties contain pockets, which make potential sandwich variations with this Mediterranean staple bread almost limitless.

Whether wheat or white, great pita bread should feature toasted spots and a light dusting of flour, with an evenly cut pocket. Wheat pita bread will often feature stone-ground specks of whole grain, while white pita will have a cream-colored appearance. Both varieties should appear somewhat moist and soft.

The best wheat pita bread will boast a moderate to pronounced aroma intensity, revealing notes of toasted nut, grain, and wheat when you closely smell it; a pronounced level of wheat should carry over into its flavor. White pita's aroma intensity will remain moderate, and its mix of aromas and flavors should work well together.

A low level of sweetness will lead the basic taste profile of a top-quality pita bread. Other basic tastes, such as bitterness, sourness, and saltiness, should remain barely, if at all detectable.

Finally, any great pita bread will be sturdy enough to handle being dipped into hummus. Its relatively firm crust and tender interior should provide a counterpoint to that of hummus. If used to make a sandwich, the pita's flavors should match nicely with all other elements of the sandwich.

We know what makes great pita bread, but what makes a bad one?

Our panel of expert chefs endured pita bread samples that were dry and cracked, or toasted on only one side. Some inferior pitas had an uneven, overly thin pocket that broke easily, while others were simply too bland and offered no complementary flavor to the hummus into which it was dipped.

Why is Thomas' Sahara the best pita bread?

Thomas' Sahara's wheat pita bread sported an inviting stone-ground wheat appearance. Our chefs deemed its flavors to be nicely balanced, and it retained its own flavor character when dipped into hummus. Just as importantly, its texture was found to be neither too tender nor too firm.

This judging was for pita bread, not including flatbreads or other bread products.