I make bold to say that you’ve consumed this lifesaver numerous times, however I’m also certain you know little about this staple. Which staple could that be? You ask! Well, it is bread, the saver of lives and friend of men. All over the world, bread is a major meal in many homes. It is baked upon a mixture of dough (flour and water) and its acceptance knows no bound as the elderly and young save to have a feel of it.
Relatively, it is one of the oldest prepared food known to man. Historically, about 30,000 years ago evidence indicates that extracts of starch from roots of plants were cooked to form a miniature of bread called the flat-bread. Specifically, bread-making sites were found in a 14,500 year old site in the northeast of Jordan.
Despite these claims in history, it is important to emphasis that the proliferation and acceptability of bread can be attributed to the practice of agriculture. Agriculture? How is that the case? You’d wonder. Well, the simple and lay explanation is that bread-making requires flour which comes from grains (from plants).
The process of bread-making requires patience and consistent effort. To make bread, doughs can be baked, steamed or fried after mixing with basic ingredients like salt, leavening agent (baking soda and yeasts). Other ingredients such as fruit extracts, sugar, milk, fruit vegetables, chocolate, seeds and spice can be added before baking to give desired preference.
Surprisingly, the dough remains an important part in bread-making but the quality of bread highly depends on how the baker chooses to use the mixer along with other ingredients and raw materials.
As a matter of health concern, formulation and ingredients of bread-making have been subjected to scrutiny by health ministries. With this view, nutritionists have admonished the use of ingredients with no stated side-effects. Professionally, basic additions and inputs to make bread have been documented to include abundance of water as flour can absorb about 62% water. In addition, use of calcium propionate is also recommended for commercial production as it inhibits the growth of molds.
Similarly, fats like butter and lards are ingredients used in the bread-making process. The moderate use of fat is essential due to its ability to alter the growth of gluten in breads which coats and lubricates strands of protein. Also, other processes like leavening and bread improving are important phases in bread-making. Did you ever believe the process of bread-making was this rigorous? Are you experienced enough for this bread quiz? If so, join the train.
