In “The Rye,” the bread causing trouble between the Costanza and Ross families is marble rye.
Frank Costanza brings the loaf to dinner at Susan Ross’s parents’ home, but the Rosses fail to serve it. Frank takes it back, creating an awkward feud between the two families. George worries that the incident could damage his engagement, so he and Jerry plot to replace the missing loaf.
Their plan requires Jerry to obtain another marble rye from a bakery. An elderly customer, Mabel, gets the last loaf, and Jerry eventually steals it after failing to persuade her to sell it. The bread then becomes part of an increasingly absurd delivery attempt involving a fishing pole and George’s apartment window.
The episode aired on January 4, 1996, as the 11th episode of Seinfeld’s seventh season. Writer Carol Leifer based the family-dinner premise on a real anecdote, while Larry David contributed the bakery theft. The bread is sometimes remembered simply as rye, but the distinctive answer is marble rye.