Spring is just around the corner, but it is still cold outside. Rain and wind are still the norm. It is a good day to warm up the house with bread baking. The smell of baked bread makes you want to stay indoors, out of the cold, all day — and sneak a piece of that luscious chewy bread.
Bread is a mass of some type of flour and moisture that is kneaded together and then baked. It has been a universal food, the staff of life, since prehistoric times. It has inspired prayer and poetry.
Bread has made history. Bread riots unseated emperors in ancient Rome. The French Revolutionists of 1789 cried for bread and received the unthinking reply, “Let them eat cake.” In more recent times, Mussolini asked his people to “love bread, the heart of the home.” In all of history, governments, in time of stress, have hesitated before rationing bread.
The bread of primitive man was unleavened. Probably the discovery of a leavening agent by a cook in ancient Egypt was pure luck. For years, the Egyptians baked some of the finest bread in the ancient world in cone-shaped ovens. Flattened and probably coarse to today’s taste, the ancient round or triangular loaves unearthed at Deir-el-Bahari were a great improvement over the open-air baking of earlier times.
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Bread, the symbol of the bounty of the Nile, was cast upon its waters as a tribute to the gods. Bread was also placed in tombs to feed the departed spirits. Egyptians literally earned their daily bread; workers were given bread at the end of the day as wages.
It was the practically minded Romans who developed the circular millstone and enlarged the baking ovens to mass-production capacity. The commercial baker, who has been in business since 168 B.C., carefully put his mark on each loaf of bread. The ruins of Pompeii revealed beehive-shape ovens; some even had bread that was baked in them.
In the Middle Ages, as cities and towns grew, trade guilds were established for bakers. Millers and bakers were sometimes suspected of taking grain and dough for themselves. A London baker had a method of taking dough under the watchful eyes of his customers. His kneading board had a small hole in the middle through which small pieces of dough were pulled by a boy hidden under the table.
During the Revolutionary War, bread was such an important part of the diet that the Continental Congress appointed a Superintendent of Bakers and Director of Baking for the Grand Army of the United States.
Although we were latecomers in the long history of bread baking, we were fast to learn. A breakfast on a riverboat gave first-class passengers the choice of 12 kinds of hot breads. The Greeks of the second century offered as many as 50 different breads, including cheese bread.
In 1834, the roller mill was invented. This device crushed grain more rapidly and economically between revolving cylinders. It completely removed the outer covering of each grain. The customers were delighted with their new white bread. Also, flour kept longer. However, it was not until recently that we realized that some basic elements, like vitamin B, were lost in the milling process.
There are two kinds of leavenings for breads — yeast, and baking soda or baking powder. Yeast breads are made for non-sweet doughs and are called bread. The sweet doughs are made into coffeecakes and buns.
What about quick breads? The person who first named these members of the bread family remains a mystery. They got their name because they are easier to make and take less time than breads made with yeast.
Quick breads can be classified by the type of leavening agent used. Biscuits, scones and shortcake are leavened with baking powder or baking soda. Popovers and Yorkshire pudding get their fluffiness from steam, which helps them rise.
One of my favorite breads is popovers. They are easy to make and are light and fluffy.
■ 2 eggs
■ 1 cup milk
■ 1 cup all-purpose flour
■ 1/4 teaspoon salt
■ 6 greased custard cups
Beat eggs slightly; then add the milk. Add flour and salt. Beat vigorously for 2 minutes. Pour the batter into vey hot greased custard cups or iron popover pans, filling them 2/3 full. Bake in preheated hot oven, 425 degrees, for about 40 minutes. Serve at once.
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March 02, 2022 at 06:00AM
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Hilde Lee: Popovers offer an easy taste of bread - The Daily Progress
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