Interesting facts about bread you may not know

Bread is not only one of many people's favorite foods, it has also been a part of human culture and symbolism since long before recorded history, as well as the fall of kings and the salvation of slaves.

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Whatever your favorite toppings or toppings for bread , it's definitely worth learning a little more about the origins of this beloved treat.

Archaeologists find evidence of bread making from 30,000 years ago

About 30,000 years ago, before the development of agriculture, humans extracted starch from the roots of certain plants. It is hypothesized that they then spread this starch powder on rocks and cooked it over fires into an early form of flatbread.

Archaeologists have discovered evidence of this by analyzing starch residues on ancient grinding stones found in Italy, the Czech Republic, and Russia.

The Sumerians were the first to make bread rise.

Over 8,000 years ago, the Sumerians, the oldest known civilization, were able to make bread rise using yeast in the air. Yeast can be found almost everywhere, especially on grains. So any dough left to rest long enough will rise.

What is 'yeast' you ask? It's the process by which bread rises, giving it that spongy texture we all love!

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Ancient Europeans used beer to make bread rise.

In early Europe, the Gauls and Iberians skimmed the foam off of beer during fermentation. They called this foam 'barm' and used it to create 'barm cake,' a much softer and fluffier cake than anything the world had ever seen.

The barm is still a popular bread in northern England and is often stuffed with bacon or chips.

Sourdough bread has been made for over 5,500 years.

Sourdough bread is probably one of the oldest methods of baking bread that we still use. It is made by keeping a small portion of yesterday's dough to help the dough rise today.

While it's possible that this recipe came from cultures around the fertile crescent, the oldest evidence of baking sourdough bread comes from Switzerland, around 3700 BC.

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Corn tortillas were a staple food of the ancient Maya.

About 10,000 years ago, corn was first grown in what is now Mexico. Like everywhere else in the world, the grain was ground into flour and mixed with water to form dough that was baked into bread.

Thus, tlaxcalli, the root word for tortilla, was born. In fact, the name of the Mexican state of Tlaxcala means "place of tortillas" in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs.

Micah Soto

Update 02 February 2025