History of bread

This in turn led to the formation of towns, which curtailed nomadic lifestyles, and gave rise to other forms of societal organization.

[1][2] Grinding stones recently unearthed in Australia have been dated to 60,000 years ago and are currently the earliest evidence of seed processing outside of Africa.

[3] Grinding stones dating to 30,000 years have been found else where in Australia, Europe, China, and the Levant, although there is no definitive evidence that these tools or their products were used for making breads.

[19] Pliny the Elder reported that the Gauls and Iberians used the foam skimmed from beer to produce "a lighter kind of bread than other peoples".

The people of modern-day Mexico have adopted these traditions, making corn and bread a popular part of Mexican dishes.

When food was scarce, an all-too-common occurrence in medieval Europe, the trencher when served would typically be eaten with or after a meal.

[32] America had a more difficult time ending these processes of adulteration, however, as various states had varying policies regarding bread making.

[35][36] It was discovered early on that while bran- and wheatgerm-discarding milling process can help improve white flour's shelf life, it does remove nutrients like some dietary fiber, iron, B vitamins, micronutrients[37] and essential fatty acids.

The US government has mandated since 1941 fortification of white flour-based foods with some of the nutrients lost in milling, like thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and iron.

The introduction of commercial yeasts during the 19th century was detrimental to sourdough as these speeded up the baking process making production much easier.

[41] Common additives include reducing agents such as L-cysteine or sodium metabisulfite, and oxidants such as potassium bromate or ascorbic acid;[42][43] this last ingredient is added to whole meal bread to increase the softness of the loaf.

[44] Calcium was added to flour in the UK to prevent rickets, which had been detected as common in women who joined the World War II effort.

Slab stele from mastaba tomb of Itjer at Giza . 4th Dynasty , 2543–2435 BC. Itjer is seated at a table with slices of bread, shown vertical by convention. Egyptian Museum, Turin .
Conical loaves of bread as grave goods exactly as laid out in the Great Tomb, North Necropolis, Gebelein , 5th Dynasty (Old Kingdom), 2435–2305 BC. Excavations by Ernesto Schiaparelli , 1911. Egyptian Museum, Turin, S. 14051-14055.
Baker baking bread in an oven – miniature in a 13th-century psalter
Peasants sharing bread, from the Livre du roi Modus et de la reine Ratio , France, 14th century ( Bibliothèque nationale )
An automated bakery with industrial robots palletizing bread, Germany