Forty years ago there was only the traditional loaf available, except during Ramazan when it was replaced with pide. How times have changed.

Ignore the wrapped sliced bread on the lower shelves, and this bread cupboard, outside the Melissa shop in Çiftlik village, is offering the only bread that was available forty years ago.

The traditional Turkish loaf still reigns supreme in small corner/village shops.

Its price is controlled by the government, as bread is the absolute staple food in this country.

Indeed, there is a Turkish saying 'no meal without bread' and village Turks reckon an adequate supply is one loaf per adult per meal! Honestly.

Forty years ago there was only the traditional loaf, except during Ramazan when it was replaced with pide.

In Ramazan the bakeries only opened about an hour or so before the fast was due to end, and long queues would build up outside bakeries as people waited to buy pide on their way home from work.

Nowadays we are spoiled by comparison.

The supermarkets all stock a wide range of breads and even the village bakery in Çiftlik (pictured in the leader) offers far more than the traditional loaf as can be seen in the second picture.