It would seem that flour and water are all that is needed to bake bread. No matter how. Even before such an ingenuous recipe, people walked a thorny path for many centuries. Now making bread is akin to art. This type of cooking is singled out as a separate subclass of culinary skills, and bakers are offended if, God forbid, they are called confectioners or cooks. Bread itself has long ceased to be just a food product. Its image has absorbed many symbolic meanings, and its use has acquired traditions.
About the way bread went before taking pride of place on the table of modern man – in our material.
The appearance of bread: from lean porridge to a lush bun
It is believed that bread is more than fifteen thousand years old. Many centuries ago, this priceless product did not exist in its usual form, but in the form of … porridge.
This is how bread was born.
The main problem of the late Paleolithic man was hunger, and the fight against it completely occupied human minds. Then the attention of people turned to cereal plants. Their main advantage was the ability to saturate the body even in small quantities. People also noticed the economy of these plants: one seed gave life to a whole spikelet.
At first, it was raw grains that were eaten. Then people adapted to grind them with stones, and boil the resulting cereal. This liquid porridge became the progenitor of bread. Today, this stew is still popular among some peoples of Africa.
Wild wheat was difficult to process, and separating the grains from the chaff was a complex and energy-intensive process. At that time, the ancient man had already mastered the making of fire and was actively looking for its use in everyday life. So it turned out that the grains heated on fire, firstly, are easier to separate from the spikelets, and secondly, if they are mixed with water, they are much tastier and more satisfying than ordinary bread porridge.
Then they came up with the idea to bake this liquid, from where the first unleavened cakes arose, a little more similar to modern bread. Many historians agree that the idea to bake a mass of grain with water came to man by chance. Allegedly, during the preparation of the usual stew, part of the mixture fell on a hot surface next to the fire. The unleavened pancake thus obtained attracted people with its appetizing smell.
This prompted civilization to develop sowing, making flour and mastering the baking craft.
The Egyptian’s Oversight, or How Yeast Bread Appeared
About five or six thousand years ago, the ancient Egyptians mastered the preparation of bread from yeast dough. It is believed that this happened in the same way as with a baked cake – by accident. The slave in charge of the dough left it in the heat, and naturally it went sour. In order not to incur the punishment of the masters, he nevertheless decided to bake the resulting mass. As a result, pastries were not only tastier and more aromatic – they stayed fresh longer and were much better digested.
Later, in ancient Egypt, they began to give bread a shape – a circle, an oval, in the form of a pyramid, a sphinx, a braid, a fish, and also make it sweet by adding honey, milk and fat to the dough. These items cost more.
The Greek Bread Diet and the Monument to the Baker in Rome
In Greece and Ancient Rome, bread was considered the dish of the masters. Only wealthy citizens could afford baking from yeast dough. For those who were lower in the social ladder, such as slaves, cheaper products were baked from coarse flour. Bread was considered a separate dish. The more noble the owner of the house was, the more he did not skimp on treating his guests with pastries.
Athletes of the ancient states for participation in the Olympic Games adhered to a strict diet – they ate bread from first-class flour, olives and baked fish.
The bakers of Greece and Rome kept the family recipe like the apple of their eye, in the deepest secrecy, and passed it on from generation to generation. The profession of a baker was considered prestigious in ancient states. In honor of the masters of working with dough, monuments and monuments were erected. Only one of these has survived to this day in Rome. A thirteen-meter monument on Via Casilina was erected in honor of the businessman Marcus Virgil Eurysacs. This man came from a family of hereditary bakers and millers. His family built in Rome what was essentially the first bakery that served the entire city.
Ottoman Quality Assurance
The Ottoman Empire went even further. Sultan Bayezid introduced a quality assurance for bread for the first time. At the same time, he made it a state norm. Then the practice spread to the whole state. Thanks to this, the profession of baker flourished in the empire. Entire dynasties of bakers even appeared in the state.
Honorary profession in Byzantium
The profession of a baker received the highest prestige in Byzantium. In the 10th century, bakers were exempted from any state duties. All this was done so that nothing interfered with the production of baking. Bakers in Byzantium were treated with special reverence, and their work was valued like no other.
England’s bread keepers and kneaders
Few people know, but the English “lord” and “lady” are also rooted in bread. The literal translation of these proud titles is “bread keeper” and “dough kneader”, respectively.
England was also the first country to use the letter of the law to control the price of this product.
French King of Bread
Initially, bread in France was baked outside the monastery walls. Most often it was prepared from barley. Such bread was intended for the poor stratum of the population.
More expensive and refined pastries made from wheat flour were served in much more elite circles. In France, there was a gradation of freshness, by which it was possible to determine in which society the guest of the country had to dine. It was believed that only freshly baked pastries were served to the royal family. The nobility got yesterday’s bread. The nobility made do with baked goods that were two days fresh. The loaf baked three days ago went to the monks and their students. And what was baked four days ago was eaten by artisans.
The price of pastries was set in France in the Middle Ages. Together with high taxes, this led to the fact that bakers often sold baked goods at a loss. Henry IV changed everything. The monarch abolished the duty on grain and for this he was known as the King of Bread.
First German baking museum
Germany boasts the first museum of bread. There, in the city of Ulyam, in the 20th century, for the first time, exhibits related to baking were collected under one roof. The exhibition opened in the former granary of the factory owner Willy Eislen. It collected more than 18 thousand exhibits. The objects on display tell visitors in detail everything about the cultivation of grain – from the evolution of farming tools to the importance of baking in human culture. The museum has permanent exhibitions “From Grain to Bread” and “Man and Bread”. With their help, the visitor can get acquainted with the history of pastry production for six thousand years. The museum has an original library, which contains about four thousand books about grain and bread.
“House of bread” in Russia
In ancient Russia, bread found a home. Literally. In Russian cities, pastries were purchased in the so-called “bread houses”. The recipe in each such house was unique and was passed down from father to son.
In Russia, for the first time they began to bake “black” bread from rye flour. It was much cheaper than wheat and available to people of any class. In addition, such bread is more nutritious, so it was especially respected by peasants engaged in hard work.
“Black” was often mentioned by Alexander Pushkin in his memoirs. The poet confessed his love to him and complained about the absence of the adored type of pastry in Paris.
Russian ingenuity gave rise to sourdough bread. It was prepared on the remains of previously baked buns. It was economical, and the pastry itself turned out to be original and very satisfying.
Bread today
Now bread does not divide people into social strata. He is loved by both ordinary workers and the elite classes of society. Baking can be sweet, salty, fresh, dietary, rich. The list is endless. And there are fans of every kind.
Bread has been revered from time immemorial: it is both an indicator of well-being, and an attribute of a wedding ceremony, and an ambassador of peace and friendship between peoples, and an addition to any meal, and an independent dish. And according to the ancient Russian custom, those who broke bread together will forever remain friends.
Thus, baking has gone with man from the dawn of civilization to the present. Bread, without prejudice, can be called the engine of progress. Along with the improvement of its manufacture, mankind has developed. Thanks to bread, there are more than 120 professions. Bread will continue to occupy not only the central part of the table at any feast, but will continue to play a major role in human culture.
