The Origins of Baking

So who started all of this?

Baking has been part of the culinary arts for hundreds of years, but do you know how and where baking actually came from?

At the start of recorded human history, the invention of fire was discovered. This ultimately led humans to have a heat and light source. They began to use this to experiment with the world around them. In time they used fire to stay warm, cook meat and make clothing. As intelligence began to increase, they discovered that many of the plants around them can be harvested for nourishment, and that these plants often contained seeds they used. One good example would be grain. They gathered grain and heated it to make a broth, then they roasted this on embers and formed the classic flat bread.

Swiss:

In the Swiss lake country almost 8000 years ago, people started to soak the grain they once ate raw. They then gathered the pulp and formed circular cakes, which were then left under the sun to dry. This was considered the first form of "bread". It was especially reliable because it could be kept to provide food for the winter. These Swiss later went on to mass harvest grain and become the first farmers.

Egyptians:

At around 2500 B.C, Egyptians organized the baking industry. This was attributed to the fact that they had to feed the slaves that built their pyramids. They were fed unleavened bread, but the Egyptians themselves also knew how to bake leavened bread. Leavening makes bread rise and become light and full of holes. The Egyptians also took baking a step further by creating furnaces to mass bake breads.

Romans:

The Roman bakers were the first to grind their grain through the use of a mechanical mixer. They invented mixers that were powered by water, donkeys and horses. It was common for the Roman politicians to distribute free bread to the city of Rome to ease people through their troubles. As the Roman empire expanded, they eventually conquered England, and they found plenty of grain to feed their army. This brought the art of baking to England. It is also important to note that England provided grain to Rome for more than 350 years.

During the collapse of the Roman empire, the new English Parliament created some of the first legislations on food. For example, they began to force bakers to only sell their bread to vendors. The vendors would recieve 13 loaves of bread when they only paid for 12 loaves, this extra loaf was a free "commission". The laws also forced bakers to put their mark on every bread they make, and other laws connected the prices of bread to wheat and flour.

World War I Influence:

The baking industry was one of the first major industries in the United States. During World War I, there was a need for massive supplies of bread to feed soldiers, so the government started to regulate the amount of bread that could be sold to civilians. This created the shift from home baking to industrial baking. People found it cheaper to purchase factory baked bread. Even after the war ended, more Americans began to invent faster machines to bake bread.

Baking's contribution to fighting disease

The bread that is now baked in America is always enriched with several important nutrients at no extra cost. During the 1930's there was an outbreak of several diseases and physicians claimed it was due to a lack of essential vitamins. The American Medical Association asked the government to add vitamins to white bread. Since 1941, American bakers have been enriching all their bread. Now, three slices of white bread provides a great supply of nutrients like thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, iron, calcium, etc. Due to this spread in nutrients, cases of anemia and other diseases are very low.