BREAD is sometimes defined as any form of baked flour, but as the
word is commonly understood it means only those forms of baked flour
which contain some leavening substance that produces fermentation. The
making of bread has come down through the ages from the simplest methods
practiced by the most primitive peoples to the more elaborate processes
of the present day. In truth, to study the history of bread making would
amount to studying the accounts of the progress that has been made by
the human race. Still, in order that the production of bread from
suitable ingredients may be fully understood, it will be well to note
the advancement that has been made.
2. In the earliest times, what was used as bread was made in much the
same way as it is today by many uncivilized and semicivilized people.
The grain was ground between stones, usually by hand, and then mixed
with water to form a dough; then this dough was formed into flat,
compact cakes and baked in hot ashes, the result being a food very
difficult to digest. Later on, some one discovered that by allowing the
dough to stand until fermentation took place and then mixing it with new
dough, the whole mass would rise, and also that by subjecting this mass
to the action of heat, that is, baking it, the mass would be held in
place and become a loaf of raised bread that was lighter and, of course,
more digestible.
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