Baking is believe to originate from ancient Egypt
Egyptian bread was made from emmer wheat which they turned into flour, this is a difficult process as the chaff doesn't come off the wheat through threshing it has to be removed by mixing the wheat with water and grinding it yet avoiding crushing the grains inside. After this it is dried in the sun, sieved and then milled on a moving grindstone. Over time baking techniques altered, in the old kingdom heavy pot molds were filled with dough and then put on a fire to bake. After this, during the middle kingdom tall cones were used on square hearths as a way of baking. Finally in the new kingdom an open top clay oven was used which was made from thick mud bricks and mortar. The bread dough was slapped on the heated inner walls and peeled off when done. In the tombs of the new kingdom images of bread in many different shapes and sizes can be found, loaves shaped like human figures, fish and various animals. The bread was also often flavoured using things such as coriander seeds and dates.
The language spoken by the ancient Egyptians was Coptic, this no longer exists and is a language that is hard to find out about as there is not much written evidence of it only the alphabet. Coptic is the name of the holy bread eaten by Christians, they are stamped before baking to make the bread easier to break up. The circle of the stamp represents life whereas the square represents life.
Baking equipment/ terms:
> Whisk
> Stir
> Melt
> Mix
> Sieve
> Bind
> Boil
> Bake
> Cook
> Prove
> Share
> Stand
> Cool
> Cut
> Smash
> Break
> Roll
> Beat
> Shake
> Kneed
> Press
> Blind bake
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