What is Bread?
Flour or meal and water cooked over or surrounded by heat?
About 8000 BCE the first grinding stone, called a quern, was invented in Egypt, and the first grain was crushed. The modern Indian chapattis, made from unleavened whole wheat flour, and Mexican tortillas, made from corn, resemble the breads produced at that time.
Until Egyptian times bread was 'unleavened'. This means that it was flat bread like the Naan or Pitta bread we eat today. It was 4,000 years ago that the Egyptians discovered a kind of yeast to add to the dough called 'Barn', to make bread' leavened' or risen.
Bread has ancient roots, and to today, a staple of so many diets throughout the world. Bread comes in all shapes, flavors and forms, and is typically made from accessible and basic [mostly] affordable ingredients per country.
These ingredients are important because they help fill nutritional gaps in diets as well as help you feel full and satisfied.
(Unless requested, I am not going to add vitamins & nutrition per breads here. Go check your Google options per bread type!)
Bread is a Staple. Bread is great. We all need Bread. When most else fails, we still have the option to buy- or bake - Breads.
Increasingly today/s time, we also start to have Bread Buffets to Celebrate Bread.
Sometimes there’s complications about Bread - We want bread white, brown, black, seeded, chocolate, pumpkin, potato, in different shapes, large, small, twisted, rolled; and presented in all possible ways. Thinly sliced, or not sliced, or rough textures. We want it fresh, toasted with specific coverings/coatings, and some of us want it old, because sometimes old bread can be utilised much more than the fresh (housewife secrets!)
Maybe you want your bread dotted with cranberries or bacon? Or, maybe US toast style bubbling with cinnamon and sugar? Maybe you want your bread to be decorated and to look like a snake, crocodile or tortoise. Or bunny. Or hedgehog.
And maybe you simply want a slice of plain white bread with farm-made butter.
Basically, we always and continuously seem to want variety and options of life, not only when speaking about Bread.
As we start to celebrate Bread, we should also start celebrating Feelings (can you read the comparisons, by now?)
Maybe, similar to bread, Feelings unfortunately are a necessity in all of our lives, in whichever shape or size.
It is your choice, how you want to experience and present it – a bread filled with bacon, cranberries, your choice of fruits, thrown out bread not quite suitable to what you actually wanted - or a thinly fried old sliced bread with no toppings…
Or maybe, you want to change all previous bread recipes and bake your own bread, your own way?
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