If you were to ask a New Yorker, or even someone from LA or Seattle, what Dutch crunch is and what makes it so special, you would likely get a blank stare. Although it hasn't yet caught on nationally, this crusty, dense sandwich bread is wildly popular but also very controversial here in the San Francisco Bay Area. It's become a regional staple and can now be found in many delis, alongside its more classic bread counterparts, like sourdough.
Dutch crunch is an oblong, white roll. Its distinct golden-brown crinkled crust makes eating it a great sensory experience (and, for those interested in that sort of thing, autonomous sensory meridian response or ASMR). Its soft middle molds to whatever ends up inside the sandwich, but the cracked topping remains strong, giving your sandwich both shape and a perfectly crunchy texture.
But what exactly is Dutch crunch? How is it made? What makes a Dutch crunch a Dutch crunch? While no baker worth their salt is going to give away their secrets, we asked Brian Chau, a food scientist who runs his own San Francisco-base food consulting company, Chau Time, to break it down for us.
"That nice, golden brown you see on a Dutch crunch roll comes from what we call 'Maillard browning,'" explains Chau, "a reaction that happens when heat combines with the rice flour and sugar." The crust is made up of of rice flour, sugar, oil, water, and yeast, combined together into a paste and painted on top of the bread. Together, these ingredients create an entirely different texture than the rest of the bread, transforming an otherwise regular roll into a little bite of magic.
Rice flour does not contain gluten and has more carbohydrates in the form of various starches, creating the perfect crinkle topping when baked, Chau says. "The starches and sugars are what create a crispy texture when exposed to the heat in the oven," he adds.
For Chau, "the appeal of Dutch crunch is not only visual, but also textural. Textural differences between the crispy top of the rice flour coating and the softer bread is what makes this so special, as multiple textures excite the sensory experience."
Ike's Sandwiches.
Mariah Tiffany / Special to SFGATESan Francisco's top chefs love Dutch crunch
Richard Lee, a San Francisco native and chef de cuisine at Michelin-starred Saison, grew up with Dutch crunch. He didn't realize it was a Bay Area thing until he moved to the East Coast.
"It’s the best sandwich bread," Lee says. "It’s got great texture with the softness of a roll. While I totally respect rye with pastrami, and a French roll for Vietnamese sandwiches, if you want a humble bread that just makes all sandwiches taste good, Dutch crunch is it. It’s one of my favorite things, food wise, about being back in San Francisco."
Roxie Food Center, located near Balboa Park, has one of Lee's (and many others) favorite sandwiches in the city — the hot pastrami on Dutch crunch.
"I love the caramelized outer crust. It's not crunchy to the point where it cuts the roof of your mouth — it's just right," echos Bay Area native and Top Chef alumnus, Tu David Phu. "My association with it is often with the legendary Italian delis in the San Francisco Bay Area — it makes our sandwiches special. And mad props to Ike's Sandwiches for spreading that Dutch crunch love through their many sandwich shops across the country." (A bit of irony, given that Ike's owner, Ike Shehadeh, doesn't particularly like the Dutch crunch.)
Daily offerings at Raymond's Sourdough Outlet and Bakery in South San Francisco.
Chelsea Davis, Special to SFGateWhere can you find Dutch crunch?
Raymond Ofiesh, owner of South San Francisco-based Raymond's Sourdough Bread, is a Dutch crunch supplier for both Roxie and many Ike's locations, as well as M Stop. His Dutch crunch and beloved sourdough can also be found at other delis and bakeries around the Bay Area and Northern California, including at Cal-Mart, Mollie Stone's and Lunardi's, depending on location.
Ofiesh first recalls having the bread at sandwich shop Darby Dan's, who got their Dutch crunch from Galli's Sanitary Bakery, a South San Francisco bakeshop that was in operation for 107 years before closing in 2016. Many bakers believe that it was thanks to Galli's that Dutch crunch took off and grew in popularity in the Bay Area.
Ofiesh's father bought a rundown deli in San Mateo in 1977, when he was about 14 years old. It was up to him and his siblings to bring this deli back to life and it was here that Ofiesh began his own baking career.
"We would have lines out the front and back doors. Nearby businesses and high schools in the area were waiting for our deli sandwiches and food," Ofiesh recalls. Once the deli, along with its catering business, took off, Ofiesh was "elected" by his family to learn how to bake. It was around 1985 that he started experimenting with his own Dutch crunch recipe in the back of his family's deli, and soon thereafter the deli started selling Ofiesh's baked bread to other stores.
Today, Dutch crunch is one of Ofiesh's most popular breads, selling up to 25,000 pieces (sandwich rolls and baguettes) each day.
Ofiesh believes that the popularity of Dutch crunch took off in the Bay Area in the early 1980s, although it does originally come from the Netherlands and seems to have made its way to the American West Coast in the 1930s. But when Ofiesh was learning to bake, "it felt new then," he recollects. (SFGATE reported in 2021 that Galli's likely was the first to start making it, back in the 1960s or 1970s.) "All the delis wanted to make sandwiches with it. Mazzetti Bakery in Pacifica — I love their Dutch crunch — they are one of the best and used to buy our sourdough bread." Unfortunately, today Mazzetti's only makes their Dutch crunch for Roxie's and a select few customers due to a smaller supply.
The Godfather at Colombo's Delicatessen is a family favorite with mortadella, prosciutto, Toscano salami, provolone, pepperoncinis, artichoke hearts and red onion, drizzled with oil and vinegar.
Courtesy of Colombo's DelicatessenAnother popular deli and bakery operation originally hailing from Pacifica is Colombo's Delicatessen, an Italian deli that makes around 100 sticks of Dutch crunch a day. If you want a roll, get there early, as they often sell out. Since 1986, Colombo's has been baking their own bread and crafting their own specialty sandwiches, alongside catering traditional Italian deli food.
"Dutch crunch is our second most popular bread, next to sourdough,'' says Nick Colombo, grandchild of original owners Emil & Doris Colombo. "We have it and bake it every day from scratch. A real Dutch crunch should have a nice crunch on the outside and fluffy in the center."
Is it the fog that makes Dutch crunch a San Francisco favorite?
Colombo and other bakers believe Dutch crunch became a Bay Area staple for one key reason: the weather.
“We have the best weather to make it," he explains. "The weather here on the coast is perfect because of the moisture in the air. When we bake our bread the moisture content is important. With little moisture, bread will become hard and not proof correctly. The coastal air brings not only Dutch crunch, but all of our breads a nice flavor and texture."
Now that you know what Dutch crunch is, it's time to either try it for the first time, or satisfy the craving left over from your last bite. (If you're feeling adventurous, you can even bake it yourself.) You know you want to!
This story was edited by Hearst National Editor Kristina Moy; you can contact her at kristina.moy@hearst.com.
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