Ancient bread (was Re: [Sca-cooks] FW:request for recipe(s))

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

On 21 Mar 2002, at 6:19, Randy Goldberg MD wrote:

> The prohibition on leavened bread comes from the tradition that the
> Hebrews left Egypt so quickly that they didn't have time to let their
> bread rise (remember that there-and-then most bread probably rose by
> the accumulation of wild yeast from the air), so risen grain products
> are forbidden. The wine would have been made previously and completely
> fermented, so it's permitted.

> Avraham

One minor detail: the ancient Egyptians did use sourdough (wild
yeast), and archaeological evidence shows that they kept a supply
of sourdough culture on hand to mix into the bread dough.
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~semitic/hsm/GizaBuiltEgypt.htm
Presumably the Jews in Egypt would have followed the same
practice.

Catching wild yeast from the air into your dough is an iffy affair, and
can take several days.  Millenia ago, people learned that they
could save some of the dough from the last batch of bread, and use
it to leaven the next batch.

Still, it does take hours for bread to rise, even if you begin with a
lively sourdough culture.  Flatbreads would have been much, much
quicker.


Brighid ni Chiarain *** mka Robin Carroll-Mann
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
rcmann4 at earthlink.net