As Malaysians, many of us are aware of the excellence local foods bring to our palettes. But often times, it’s nice to see this reflected on a global scale.

International food travel guide TasteAtlas recently released their list for the Top 10 Best Rated Breads in the World.

According to their website, TasteAtlas’ goal was to promote excellent local foods and instil pride in traditional dishes while arousing curiosity about dishes their readers have yet to try, report SAYS.

In a short description of their list-making process, the website revealed that they used multiple mechanisms to determine which bread would emerge supreme among the rest.

“TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognise real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognises as knowledgeable,” read a portion of the study.

For the list, TasteAtlas revealed that they recorded 14,596 ratings, of which 9,641 were recognised by the system as legitimate.

According to the findings, Malaysia’s roti canai is listed as the world’s highest rated bread

Providing alternative references to the item, TasteAtlas also includes roti kosong and roti cane under the same category for roti canai.

“Roti canai is a traditional pan-fried flatbread made with flour, water, eggs, and fat of Indian origin, but mainly associated with Malaysia, and surrounding countries like Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, and Thailand,” read the findings.

Speaking on the layered texture of roti canai, TasteAtlas describes the bread as having a soft interior and crispy outer layer.

According to TasteAtlas, roti canai is a traditional pan-fried flatbread made with flour, water, eggs, and fat of Indian origin, but mainly associated with Malaysia, and surrounding countries like Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, and Thailand.

The dough for roti canai is repeatedly folded, so the final product has a layered texture, a soft interior, and a crispy outer layer.

The most common fat used in roti canai is ghee, the traditional Indian clarified butter. It is believed that the dish originated in India when the Indian laborers who migrated to Malaysia brought the recipe and the tradition of preparing this crispy pastry to the foreign country.

Aside from that, they also listed a variety of fillings and toppings that are associated with roti canai, such as beans, curries, and toppings. TasteAtlas referred to martabak as the best-known type of roti canai.

Usually, it is served plain in its traditional round form, as an accompaniment to curries. It can be served on the side or torn into pieces and mixed with the curry. However, roti canai is often served as the star dish, accompanied by different savory and sweet fillings and ingredients.

If additional fillings are added, roti canai is usually shaped into rectangles.

For example, in Malaysia, one can find various roti canai types, which are differentiated by the type of filling — egg, onion, egg and onion, banana, sardines, margarine and sugar, Maggi instant noodles, cheese, vegetable, and pork filling are some of the many available.

However, roti canai doesn’t have to have a filling but only a topping, such as fried eggs, curry, beans, lentils, and coffee beans.

But martabak, a thick roti filled with meats, eggs, onions, and spices, is probably the best-known type of roti canai.

Nevertheless, TasteAtlas also acknowledged other forms of roti canai that can be found in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Furthermore, the guide added a list of ingredients for their readers to attempt making roti canai.

Expanding their list to include the Top 50 Best Breads in the World, breads in the list originated from countries such as India, France, Colombia, Chile, and Italy, among others. – Says/tasteatlas

Rounding off the top 10 best rated breads in the world included:

1. Roti canai, Malaysia
2. Pan de bono, Colombia
3. Butter garlic naan, India
4. Nan-e barbari, Iran
5. Pão de queijo, Brazil
6. Baguette, France
7. Naan (collectively), India
8. Piadina Romagnola, Italy
9. Marraqueta, Chile
10. Pan de yuca, Colombia

Check out the top 50 breads posted by TasteAtlas on their Facebook page: