Bread, Rolls and Pastries

Bread, this ubiquitous basic food, is the forebear of all prepared foods. It is the foundation of cooking, as we know it, and in many countries represents one of the pillars of nutrition and gastronomy. The mixing of flour, salt, water gave rise to culinary development. We can essentially claim the beginning of culinary development to have begun in the first loaf of bread. Since then bread has come a long way. It can be unleavened, or leavened with yeast, produces from whole-wheat flour, rye, corn, barley, cassava, oats, and a combination of one, or two or more grains. Today, in specialized bakeries, you can buy 11-grain bread. Also available are breads infused with herbs, olives, dried fruits, onion, just to name a few adjuncts. Bread is such a powerful food that in antiquity Egyptian governments controlled it from production to distribution as a means of controlling the populace. In France shortage of bread was one of the reasons to triggering the eruption of the French Revolution in 1789. Nutritionally, bread is a relatively inexpensive source of calories, with respectable offering of proteins. Millions of poor people survive on bread, cheese or olives, teas, or wine, and little else. Of course one can use mashed acorns, ground beans, crushed tree barks, nuts, or chestnut flour, but most balers use primarily finely milled wheat, or rye corn, barley, millet, kamut, spelt and other grains. Wheat flour is preferred because of its gluten content. For centuries people considered highly-refined white bread a sign of affluence and privilege of the rich and sophisticated. Poor people ate coarse-grained brown breads. Of late, whole grain dark breads have become more popular mostly due to their high fibre content.