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We know that breads have been made for at least 7000 years, based on the archaeological record. But it's likely that bread (using wild yeasts) has been made for much longer than that.
Once critical factor in making bread, at least traditional 'leavened' bread where yeast is the rising agent is the capture and storage of the yeast culture. The recipe below tells you how to make 'leaven', a live yeast culture and gives a taste of how our forebears might have kept their yeast cultures alive and flourishing.
Once you have your leaven or yeast culture, you can now use this to make your bread: Leavened Bread
Of course, once you have your basic bread recipe you can play around with it to make a richer variant, as for feasts: Rich Bread. Or you can add fruit and herbs or other flavourings to make it different and potentially more interesting: Fruited Bread
We know quite a lot about Roman breads because of the works of such writers as Cato and Apicius. Though a number of the breads that survive are actually either special types of breads used at feasts or large meals or they are breads used for sacred purposes or as offerings. This, of course, does not make the bread recipes given here any less tasty!
Libum
Hapalos Artos
Boletinos Artos
Mustacei
Streptikos Artos
Libum (Diced Cheese Bread)
Breads during the Medieval period were also fairly similar to their ancient and Roman counterparts. Though one major development was the advent of: Sourdough Bread. The Medieval period also sees the development of risen cakes that are also termed 'breads', such as the classic: Gyngerbrede (Gingerbread).
A special form of bread, known as a 'trencher' (I have a Trencher recipe here) was also used instead or a plate and the ingredients for a meal would be piled on this bowl-shaped bread and both the bread and its contents would be consumed.
Because more books and manuscripts survive from the Elizabethan period we have more knowledge of the breads and bread-like cakes produced during this time. Examples include:
To make Knotts or Gumballs
The term 'modern' is being used in a very 'fast and loose' way here. The breads in the list below originate from all over the world and some have very ancient roots, indeed. These are modern breads only in the sense that they are still cooked and consumed to this day:
The recipes below are all for 'cornbreads' though not strictly a 'bread' in that it's not risen with yeast it is used as a true bread would be and so i've included these recipes in this section, but given them their own table:
It should also be remembered that all pizzas are served on a true bread base. As a result here is a collection of the various pizza base recipes on this site.
The recipes presented here are for confections called 'breads' but which are actually, in terms of any meaningful definition cakes. They all have a raising ingredient and many are cooked in loaf tins, which may account for the confusion in terminology encountered.
Below is a table of varous fruit-based breads, ranging from banana bread to pumpkin bread with many variations in betwen. These are really cakes, using baking soda as a raising agent, but which are invariably cooked in a loaf tin.
The following 'breads' all have a starch source other than flour to bulk-out the cake. Many of these recipes are African in origin.
The following buns or cakes all have yeast as a rising agent. In effect they're 'sweet breads' though they are often classed in culinary terms as cakes:
Finally we have another type of cake or biscuit that's generally called a bread — and that's 'gingerbread'. The original recipes for this go back to the Middle ages where bread was used in the prodution of this confection. Gingerbreads can range from hard biscuits to risen cakes and here are a selection of recipes from throughout the ages:
| Gyngerbrede | Course Ginger Bread |
| Gingerbread | Oatmeal Gingerbread |
| Gingerbread Men | Plantain Gingerbread |
| Torth Sinsir Hen Gymreig | Apple Gingerbread |
A crockpot (also known as a slow cooker) can be an excellent means of cooking proper meals slowly for a long time. It allows you to make the most of poor cuts of meat and lets you cook your food over night or slowly throughout the day whilst you are at work. There are lots of recipes for crockpot meals on the internet, but you can adjuist pretty much any recipe for a stew or braising dish to the crockpot. This article shows you how to do this using a classic Turkish lamb and onion stew as an example.
Tanzaia is a diverse country comprised of the mainland, Tanganyika and the island of Zanzibar. The cuisine of this country are influenced by Arabic, British, French and Indian cuisines producing a fusion of native and imported culinary influences that are vibrant and fascinating. Here you will see two typical Tanzanian recipes for a main course and a dessert...
I know that the combination of chilli and chocolate sounds odd to modern ears. Yet this is an ancient mix used by the Aztecs and later adopted in Sicilian cuisine. What's presented here is a rich and piquant gravy that goes excellently well with game dishes.
Humans have been making cheeses as long as they have been farming and cheeses represent a versatile and useful storage food available in a staggering array of variants. Learn a little about cheese and discover two classic cheese-based recipes.
Spring is the time for new resolutions and to make the best of fresh and new ingredients. Spring lamb and fresh rhubarb are at their best now and these two classic recipes show off these ingredients at their best. Here you will see some of the best of traditional British cookery that will allow you to make a spectacular meal from these ingredients.
Chillies (chili, chilé, ají) is an amazing spice that originates in Central and Northern South America. It was unknown in the Old World until the early 1500 but by 1549 had made its way across the world from Europe through Africa, the Near East and had reached China and Japan. Learn about the history of the spread of chillies and why this is such an amazing spice.
Fusion cooking is the blending of ingredients and cooking techniques from different areas of the globe. Though most people thing of Asian-influenced dishes as being typically 'Fusion' modern Fusion cuisines can represent dishes influenced by the foods of any region of the world. Though South-east Asian, African, Middle Eastern and Indian influences tend to predominate. Here you will learn a little more about fusion cookery and will be presented with a classic Australian fusion dish.
Those obsessive about wild foods will source a whole meal from the wild. But this is not the way that it's best to start with or even to keep going with wild foods. It's far better to gather a few fruit, wild greens or mushrooms and to add these to your everyday cookery. This way you get an introduction to the range of wild foods available and you begin to extend your cookery by adding wild ingredients.
'Thai Food' by David Thompson is one of those rare 'must have' culinary books that presents the culture and history of Thailan from a food perspective. This well-written book presents over 300 recipes covering all aspects of Thai cuisine and represents the most comprehensive collection and examination of Thai Food printed in the English Language.
Freezing is often ignored as a cookery technique, yet where would we be without those cold delights of ice creams, sorbets, sherbets and granaches? Here you will find recipes for classic ice cream and a classic sorbet. I hope that you will come to accept that chilling is also is also a valid and vital form of cookery.
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