When did bread start being made? who came up with the idea of bread first? Complete History of bread

 

Complete History of bread

Have you ever seen a packet being spun? What exactly is added to the brown bread that you consider healthy? Bread is a very common food item worldwide. It is eaten by everyone all the time. In India, there are various ways to eat bread such as bread jam, bread pakora, bread halwa, bread omelette, bread gulab jamun, and many more. But the real question is, what is actually added to this bread? And is it good or bad for health ?  What is the difference between white bread and brown bread? How can it be compared to roti (Indian bread)?
Let's examine bread closely! What is bread actually made of? Basically, bread is made from four important ingredients: first, wheat flour (atta or maida), second, water, third, salt, and fourth, yeast. Now the question arises why salt is added to bread? Well, salt is added for three main reasons. The first reason is that salt is a natural antioxidant, it acts as a natural preservative which allows bread to be stored for longer periods. The second reason is that bread tastes better when salt is added. And the third and most important reason is that the gluten strands in the bread, which provide strength, become stronger due to the addition of salt. When flour is kneaded, the gluten strands provide the strength that keeps the dough or bread together, and adding salt makes these gluten strands even stronger. Then comes the fourth ingredient, which is yeast. In Hindi, we call it "khamir." Yeast is actually single-celled microorganisms that come in the form of fungi. When this yeast reacts with the carbohydrates present in the flour, two things are released: ethanol and carbon dioxide. This whole process is called fermentation. Now, the bubbles of carbon dioxide released in this reaction get trapped in the gluten strands, which is why bread rises. You'll notice that there are round bubbles in the bread. Now, ethanol is also released in this reaction, and as we know, ethanol is a type of alcohol. When we put fermented dough into the oven and start baking, the ethanol evaporates, and because of the evaporation of ethanol, the bread rises even more. In this whole process, all the ethanol doesn't evaporate, but some portion remains. The American Chemical Society experimented in 1920 and found that bread contains alcohol ranging from 0.04% to 1.9%. But there's nothing to fear from this small amount of alcohol; in fact, they just mentioned that this amount is limited to enhance the taste of bread. Bread has been made using traditional methods for centuries.

Finally, who came up with the idea of bread first? How did it start? Let us explain some facts to you. In 1857, Louis Pasteur explained the scientific process of fermentation to the world, and only then did we come to know what fermentation actually is. But before that, people were using this process without knowing what was happening. Historians debate on this issue. It is estimated that around 4000 BC, its origins might have been in Egypt. Perhaps someone in Egypt was making ordinary bread, and they might have forgotten about the dough for a few hours, and wild yeast was present in the air, which started to interact with that dough. When that baker put that dough back into the fire to make it again, and when he saw the bread rise, everyone was surprised. He saw that it was very soft and delicious to eat. Then, they tried to make it again, thinking that if they kept the dough in the air again, something like this might happen. The possibility of this happening was less. Maybe then someone mixed leftover dough with new dough to try making bread again, but it rose too much again, and they found the same softness and taste as before. In this way, slowly humans developed the technique of making bread.

We have roti and bread. There is only a difference of two things in them. When making roti, we do not use salt and yeast. It doesn't rise as much as bread does. And secondly, we cannot preserve roti for a long time. If we keep roti in open air, it will not be suitable for eating the next day; it will spoil. Now the thought is who came up with the idea that if yeast is added while making ordinary roti, it will rise? This thing is a subject of debate for historians. It is estimated that around 4000 BC, its origins might have been in Egypt. Egyptians might have been making ordinary roti, and they might have forgotten about the dough for a few hours, and wild yeast was present in the air, which started to interact with that dough. When that baker put that dough back into the fire to make it again, and when he saw the roti rise, everyone was surprised. He saw that it was very soft and delicious to eat. Then, they tried to make it again, thinking that if they kept the dough in the air again, something like this might happen. The possibility of this happening was less. Maybe then someone mixed leftover dough with new dough to try making roti again, but it rose too much again, and they found the same softness and taste as before. In this way, slowly humans developed the technique of making roti.

If we move a little further in time, it is said that Christopher Columbus first brought the concept of this bread to America. And in India, the concept of yeast bread was brought by the Portuguese, in the form of pav (a type of bread). Portuguese people first brought it to Goa and then to Mumbai, and that's why the famous "vada pav" of Mumbai is so popular to this day. If we fast forward a bit, pav, i.e., bread, became a common household food in India. But then our story enters the era of the Industrial Revolution, where the beloved homemade bread is transformed in the industry. It started at a commercial level with yeast. Someone said that we cannot wait for this wild yeast to make our bread; instead, we have to somehow trap this yeast so that we can use it whenever we want. Thus came the pressed yeast, which started being sold in solid cubes. In 1867, some bakers in Vienna are credited with making the first pressed yeast. Today, we also call it baker's yeast, and you can buy it in packets. But then someone thought, why do we need this yeast? Why do we use it? It's just to release gas so that the bread rises. Why don't we use something else to release gas? And here comes the entry of sodium bicarbonate, which we also call baking soda. Baking soda reacts with an acid to release carbon dioxide, which helps the bread rise. But where does this acid come from? For this, we can use milk, buttermilk, or lemon juice. Then someone thought, why don't we mix this baking soda and acid and pack them together in a packet? As soon as you put it in water, the reaction starts. It's called baking powder, which contains baking soda and some acidic substance like citric acid or cream of tartar. That is, from around 1850, a little bit of chemistry started being used in bread. But then some things started going wrong.