Bread
- Mediterranean culture has been influenced by the cereals, perhaps more than any other element of the diet. One of the most common ways we have to consume them is in the form of bread. Throughout the region we find many varieties which are part of the local culture, such as Moroccan khubz, turkish dürüm, eastern mediterranean pita bread, pan payés in Catalonia, etc.
- Bread's origins can be traced back to the Middle East, in ancient Mesopotamia, though some historians trace it back to Egypt. Some argue that the Egyptians were already making hard cakes of ground grains some 10,000 years before the rest of the peoples in the Mediterranean had access to bread. That is where 4,000 years ago fermented breads were discovered, when the dough was accidentally left too long before baking and fermented.
- Yeast travelled from Egypt to Greece, where bakers became respected workers and the first tools of the trade were developed. That is where the first bakeries were born. Later, the Roman Empire was responsible for extending bread throughout the rest of the Mediterranean.
- Wheat is the cereal most used in baking bread. In the Mediterranean basin there are heirloom varieties of wheat, rarely grown conventionally but highly nutritious, such as spelt, farro oremmer (in Italy and also in Morocco, Albania, Turkey, Israel...), kamut (in Egypt and the Middle East), einkorn (in France, Italy, Turkey, Morocco...) or escaña wheat in Asturias.
- Mediterranean production of bread wheat, the cereal from which most bread is made, accounts for almost 14% of world production. The countries which consume the most of this grain are: France, Turkey, Egypt, Italy and Spain.
20/06/2011 - 13:36
