Why Classic White Bread Dinner Rolls Are Suddenly Trendy
Warm and buttery, Parker House rolls have muscled onto top restaurant tables, despite being the whitest of white bread.
In the U.S., bread sales aren’t rising the way they used to. The market in bread and bakery products is projected to grow at a dismal 1.5% from 2020 to 2023. Yet a modest dinner roll is elbowing its way into the kitchens of top restaurants across the country.
The ascension of Parker House rolls isn’t just surprising because so many diners continue to forgo bread as part of low-carb, high-protein diets—and when they do indulge, it’s with rustic, seeded, more “artisanal” styles perceived to be more nutritious. Parker House rolls are as white as you can get in the baking world (with the possible exception of Japanese milk bread), its pearly, puffy interior encased in a golden-brown top that’s invariably drenched in butter. At a time when dark, dense, fermented loaves are the cool kids in the bread basket, Parker House rolls could be their grandmother.