History of Bread

By Taylor Chin
  • 8000 BCE

    Fist Made

    The first grinding stone, called a quern, was invented in Egypt, and the first grain was crushed. The modern Indian chapatis, made from unleavened whole wheat flour, and Mexican tortillas, made from corn, resemble the breads produced at that time.
  • 3000 BCE

    Yeast

    Yeast
    Yeasts can be considered man's oldest industrial microorganism. It's likely that man used yeast before the development of a written language. Hieroglyphics suggest that that ancient Egyptians were using yeast and the process of fermentation to produce alcoholic beverages and to leaven bread over 5,000 years ago.
  • 800 BCE

    Refined Flour

    Refined Flour
    The earliest bread grains would have been ground by hand with rocks. This would have resulted in coarse, whole grain bread. The Mesopotamian's refined this process using two flat, circular stones, stacked on top one another to grind the grain. These stones were continuously rotated by draft animals or slaves. This “milling”—which was the genesis for how we create flour today–created smooth, finely ground flour that quickly became prized as a status symbol.
  • 150 BCE

    Romans

    The first bakers' guilds were formed in Rome. Wealthy Romans insisted on the more exclusive and expensive white bread. Roman bakeries produced a variety of breads and distributed free bread to the poor in times of need.
  • 70 BCE

    Greeks

    In ancient Greece, keen rivalry existed between cities as to which produced the best bread. Athens claimed the laurel wreath, and the name of its greatest baker, Thearion, has been handed down through the ages in the writings of various authors. Bread makers were the most respected people of the time
  • Jan 1, 1260

    Trencher Bread

    Trencher Bread
    A bread trencher is normally described as a thick slice of dry stale wholemeal bread used as an ‘edible’ plate. It’s thought that trencher bread was more commonly served at feasts, where a person of substance was paying the bill. . Meat with sauce was served directly onto the bread platter, which had a shallow hollow or ‘trench’ cut into the bread to retain any gravy or juices, the plate could then be eaten along with the meal.

  • Bagels were invented

    Bagels were invented
    the first bagels to the late 17th century in Austria, saying that bagels were invented in 1683 by a Viennese baker trying to pay tribute to the King of Poland, Jan Sobieski.

  • Sliced Bread

    Sliced Bread
    It was not until 1928, when Rohwedder invented a machine that both sliced and wrapped the bread, that sliced bread caught on. A bakery in Chillicothe, Missouri was the first to use this machine to produce sliced bread.

  • Chorleywood Bread Process

    In 1961 the Chorleywood Bread Process was developed, and revolutionised the way bread was made and produced. Now used to produce 80% of the bread in the UK it made an important impact on the domestic population. The Chorleywood process is able to use lower protein wheats to produce bread, this development has enabled more bread to be produced in the UK where our wheats don’t normally have a high protein content.

  • Bread Dietary Guidelines in the US

    Wheat is primarily made up of complex carbohydrates which provide a source of time-released energy. Since 1990, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines have recommended that Americans eat 6 to 11 servings of bread and other grain foods every day.