The slice of bread we relish today has a history that dates back to nearly thirty thousand years. The earliest evidence of the making of bread was seen in ancient Egypt.
In the British Museum's Egyptian galleries, you can find bread loaves that were baked nearly five hundred years ago. The first bread may have been an experiment or an accidental blend of water and grain flour.
Bread has evolved into many forms and types and has even become the staple food for many countries around the world. Though evidence of bread were found in ancient Egypt, bread making was made an art by the Greeks who bought the excess wheat from the Egyptians. They tested different baking processes and discovered shapes, types, styles and even introduced the front-loading bread oven.
Even the Romans adopted bread as one of their staple food. Most of the ancient Roman homes have an oven in the kitchen also called as Fornax. In fact, Fornax is also an Ancient Roman goddess, a personification of Fornax, the oven. Fornacalia is a festival for the goddess Fornax to ensure the grain is properly baked.
The bread that we eat today is the product of many experiments, advancements and innovations. For example, the uniform shape of modern bread is not a very ancient tradition. It was introduced by the British way after the bread was made popular. During the ancient English periods, baking was a craft. Since the making of the bread involved many crucial steps, it was meant for a few. Bakers kept the mysteries of baking to themselves so that the craft does not spread.
Today, technology has made bread-making an easy method. The manual labor that went into bread making is now taken care of by technological advancements.
So the next time you pick a slice of bread to make a cheese sandwich, you know what really went into getting that slice into your hands.
