Essential Guide to Bread
Everything you need to know to create beautiful bakes
THE FIRST EVER BREAD
According to reports, during an excavation in Israel in 2004, at a site called Ohalo II, scientists found 22,000 year-old barley grains in a grinding stone. This is thought to be the earliest known evidence of humans processing wild cereal grains, and therefore, the first existence of bread.
However, unlike our fluffy 21st century loaves, these ‘breads’ would have been more like flat cakes, made from mashed up grains and seeds.
Bread evolved from this point in many different ways, in many different cultures. Sliced bread came about in 1937, when a bread slicing and wrapping machine was installed in the Wonderloaf Bakery, in Tottenham.
TOP TIPS FOR BREAD PERFECTION
1 Give your dough enough time to rise – Rising and proving is essential when working with yeasted dough, as the yeast needs to be activated and have time to grow and multiply. This rising time is what makes your bread fluffy and light on the inside.