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Butter is commonly sold in sticks (pictured) or small blocks, and often served using a butterknife.

A spread is a food that is spread with a knife onto bread, crackers, or other bread products. Spreads are added to bread products to provide flavor and texture, and are an integral part of the dish, i.e., they should be distinguished from condiments, which are optional additions. Spreads should also be distinguished from dips, which do not employ a knife in applying it to crackers or chips.

As such, "spread" has a functional definition, which means that the same food can be categorized as a spread, a "condiment", or an "ingredient" under different circumstances. A good example of this would be butter, which could appear on a hamburger as a condiment, on buttered toast as a spread, and in mashed potatoes as an ingredient.

Common spreads include cheeses, creams, and butters (spreads made from milk; though the term butter is broadly applied to many spreads); and jams and jellies (spreads made from fruit). Spreads are also made from vegetables (e.g., vegemite, hummus, babaganoush, and meats (e.g., pâté, fleischbutter, cretons).

Spread can also refer to a food that many inmates in California jails eat. Spread originated in the Los Angeles County Jail and eventually inmates in the CDC and surrounding county jails began eating spread. The staple in any spread is a "Soup"(Nissin Ramen Noodles) the soup is usually seasoned with chips, popcorn, mixed with leftovers from the last issued meal, and condiments such as mayonaise and mustard, the more expensive spreads are made with tuna. The term "spreading" refers to inmates collectively pitching in different items from the commissary to one inmates who "cooks" for several other inmates. Often if an inmate comes into the dormitory with no commissary members of his group will give him a ration of spread. Spreading is also a spiritual way for inmates to connect with each other. For instance inmates will often make large expensive spreads if an inmate has an important court date coming up, if an inmate has a birthday, if a popular inmate is soon to be released, or if an inmate is going away to prison.^{[citation needed]}

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Spreads

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Spreads

• List of spreads courtesy of Food Down Under
• Longer list from ichef.com (including evil popups and much advertising)
• A Website Devoted to Spreading Peanut Butter

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