SC - Archaeologists Recreate Famous King's Entombed Meal

[margali]

> Conversely, bread was often round instead of our straight sided loaves
> because, again, it was cooked in the oven without a pan.
> 
> Lord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra

Common loaves were often round because the dough was worked into a ball and
allowed to rise, softening the ball to flat bottom and a domed upper crust.
This is shown in various woodcuts and paintings.  It does not preclude other
free-formed shapes such as the batard, a long wide loaf.  In fact, I suspect
the bakery practice of different types of bread being different shapes and
sizes goes back to the Middle Ages.

As for loaf pans, some of the bread from Pompeii was obviously formed with a
circular pan (probably terra cotta) making heavy indentations for easy
seperation.

Bear