Man Can't Live on Bread Alone or Can He?
Examining the history of bread and what makes it so irresistible
There is nothing quite like a delicious loaf of bread baking in the oven. The smell of baking bread is so enticing that real estate agents often suggest baking some during an open house and for good reason. When you walk into a home that has freshly baked bread it’s as if the house is saying, “Come in and make yourself at home”. It is a warm, inviting smell that can conjure up nostalgic memories of childhood. This smell can be irresistible.
Today we are going to explore the origins and the cultural significance of the simple loaf of bread.
Whoever would have thought 12,000 years ago that coarse grain crushed against rocks and water could change the world? It is out of these two basic ingredients that the first loaves of bread were made.
Bread has been a major player in the food game since pre-historic times, you could say that bread is the OG food of sorts. The original bread was most likely baked on heated stones covered in hot coals. We can credit the ancient Egyptians once again with the discovery of leavened bread. They discovered when you allowed the wheat dough to ferment it developed gases that caused the bread to expand into a larger, expanded loaf.
The ancient Egyptians are also credited with the creation of the world’s first baking oven. Could Egyptians have baked the first type of baguette? Probably not. Even though the ancient Egyptians discovered that letting the dough ferment created an expanded loaf of bread, it still wasn’t the fluffy on the inside crusty on the outside type of loaf that we love today. This ancient bread was more than likely a heavy sourdough bread that was probably quite unpleasant by today’s standards.
This ancient flatbread was doing pretty well for itself, it was the only game in town and it served its purpose of nourishing the people who made and consumed it. That is until yeast came into the picture. The accidental discovery of natural yeast fermentation changed the bread game forever. When flour and water are combined and left exposed to the air, wild yeast settles on the dough initiating the fermentation process. This releases carbon dioxide gas, causing the dough to rise up creating a lighter and ultimately more palatable bread.
Soon after yeast entered the game, sourdough bread was born. We were now getting closer to what we now consider bread to be. Sourdough is one of the oldest forms of bread.
The sourdough starter also known as the ‘Mother” is similar in that regard to vinegar. This “Mother” is a mixture of flour and water that allows wild yeast and bacteria to grow plentifully in a semi-controlled environment. To feed the starter you have to periodically add more water and flour to it to maintain a culture of microorganisms, henceforth lactic acid is produced in this process giving sourdough bread its familiar tangy sour taste. There is nothing quite like sourdough bread.
As the ancient people started to become better breadmakers they began to save a portion of the previous dough to use as a starter for the next batch, they called this “leaven” hence the term leavened bread. The leavening process of this ancient bread was much slower than it is today with quick-acting instant-rise yeast. Slower fermentation of sourdough bread can lead to more complex flavors as well as a great chewy texture.
This technique of using yeast as a leavening agent for bread cut the trail for more controllable fermentation, yielding consistently better and better bread.
This method of keeping a “starter” or “mother” for the purpose of breadmaking went on for centuries until the discovery of commercial yeast turned the baking industry upside down in the mid-19th century. Once again, we have French chemist Louis Pasteur to thank for identifying yeast as a living organism that is responsible for the process of fermentation, and just like that, the commercial yeast business was born.
It was that simple. Well, maybe not, it was still quite some time before bakers could rely on modern commercially available yeast to bake their bread. It was around this time that the baguette came onto the scene. Although the French made the baguette popular it was actually first made by a Belgian baker by the name of August Zang. This long oval bread was produced in place of larger round loaves that took longer to make because French law dictated that bakers could not begin baking until 4 am at the earliest.
To this day bread is a staple food in many parts of the world, as it is cheap to produce at home as well as being an easily accessible source of calories. Bread also plays a role in some cultural as well as some religious practices, such as challah in the Jewish traditions, and naan in Indian cuisine. Bread is symbolic as it has the power to bring hungry people together around a nourishing meal, put simply bread is life in less fortunate parts of the world.
Today most modern breadmaking relies on commercial yeast, this yeast has been cultivated, dried, and packaged specifically for use in commercial breadmaking. This kind of bread yeast has proven itself to be reliably consistent which yield predictable, repeatable results. Hey, that sounds like a science experiment, because it is!’
In the culinary world, it seems like old-school traditional methods always tend to come back around, and breadmaking is no different. Artisanal sourdough bread makers have once again begun to use wild yeast fermentation to bring unique flavors to their customers’ palates.
Throughout history, breadmaking has evolved right alongside many different cultures around the world. To make it plain and simple, without bread, a lot of people throughout history would have starved.
Bread gives even the poorest people a chance to fill their bellies with this symbol of life and nourishment. To eat bread is to be human and to be human is to eat bread.
Pizza dough does count! Making bread is easy and with just a few ingredients you can create something amazing. I have been fascinated by bread ever since I started making it, so much variety.
Neat little history! The closest I ever came to breadmaking has been in the pizza shops, making the dough. It counts, but it was really easy if you just followed the process.