Let them Eat Cake

As an avid baker and consumer of bread (my freezer currently houses four loaves—I kid you not), I decided to make a blog post on the evolution of bread. After all, virtually every culture  since the ancient Egyptians provides us with an insight on this staple food.   

Primitive forms of bread were first produced by Neolithic cooks and progressed from there as ingredients became more readily available and as technology improved. The earliest forms of bread were unleavened and resembled naan or tortillas. Yeast was discovered by Egyptians as early as 4000 B.C. Soon enough, bread became a staple in the lives of Egyptians. Evidence of this are the rolls and loaves that were found in ancient Egyptian tombs.


Preserved bread found in Pompeii.



In 3000 B.C., the art of baking bread became a coveted skill in Egypt. The closed oven was invented and bread continued its rise on the ladder of “culture sustainability” as bread was used instead of money.

Britain eventually caught on to the rising popularity of bread around 500 B.C.

What surprised me most through researching the history of bread were the social implications surrounding bread and the consumption thereof. Starting in 150 B.C., the privileged Romans insisted on consuming only the more exclusive and expensive white bread. A person’s social status was determined by the color of bread they ate. The darker the bread, the poorer the person was as white flour was much more costly. However, around the end of the 20^th century, this was reversed as more and more people caught onto the healthy benefits of whole wheat. Now, there is a negative association between white bread eaters and those ignorant of nutrition. Whole wheat bread is now more expensive than the traditional air-filled wonder bread often encasing Kraft singles and bologna.  

Harvesting grain in Egypt. 2650 B.C.

References to bread are also found in the Bible. In the Lord ’s Prayer includes the phrase: “give us this day our daily bread.” During sacrament across the Christian and Catholic sects, bread is symbolic for the body of Christ-as Christ is (like bread) entirely vital to our livelihood.  Bread is one of the few foods that sustained the poor through the Dark Ages. Bread was so important in the diet of the French people that riots during the French Revolution were thrown in demand of it.

Just as any other practice that has been around as long as bread making has been; it failed to squeeze past the view of technology and commercialization, especially during the 20^th century and beyond. This kind of makes me sad because I love a beautiful loaf of handmade bread- such as the one that was graciously brought to class a couple of weeks ago.  The additives and oxidants included in commercialized bread have allowed commercial bakers to imitate artisan loaves of bread that were formerly exclusively made by small artisan shops.

As for how this knowledge has been preserved and passed down? It was, and is mainly preserved through families. A Bakers' Guild was formed in Rome around 168 B.C. The college did not allow the bakers or their children to withdraw from the college to pursue other trades. Bread making was somewhat of an art. Because of this, bakers' held their secrets tightly in order to prevent other people from making their own business.

In 1910, bread production was no longer done by hand. Machinery took over and less and less people were making their own bread at home. Due to the convienence and ease, the volume of bread made in homes has decreased greatly as sliced and bagged bread became all the rage starting in the 50's.

While still somewhat popular, homebaked bread is not the main source of our bread intake anymore.

In my family, the art of making bread was something my mother, aunts, and grandmother all passed on to me. I was never really taught per se, but they helped spark my interest. I have called my aunt on numerous occasions to ask her how the bread should look when it's done or how I know when I've added enough flour. 

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4