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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:
| Southern Cornbread | Mexican Cornbread |
| Buttermilk Cornbread | Jalapeno Cornbread |
| Cajun Crayfish Cornbread | Cajun Sour Cream Cornbread |
| Corn and Rice Bread | Liberian Cornbread |
| Swazi Cornbread |
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.
| Liberian Cassava Bread | Liberian Rice Bread |
| Cassava and Plantain Bread | Pan di Spagna |
| Caribbean Cassava Bread | Philippines Cassava Bread |
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:
| Dresdner Stollen | Panettone |
| Hot Cross Buns | Nigerian Buns |
| Chelsea Bun (Recipe 1) | Chelsea Bun (Recipe 2) |
| Sticky Buns |
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 |
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Beef is a very flavoursome meat, as long as it is well matured, but it does have the cachet of being expensive and to be used only as a treat. Partly this is due to the history of beef as a high-status ingredient. Partly it's due to the cost of the better cuts. But you have a whole animal to consider and this article takes you through the history of beef eating and gives you a recipe for both the best and one of the poorer cuts of meat.
Review of 'Roman Cookery' by Dr Mark Gant. How valuable a resource is this? Will it actually teach you to cook the Roman way? Read this review and find out for your self.
Bread relies on wheat and barley for it's property as a bread for it's the gluten in these grains that allows bread to rise and keep its shape and texture. However, it is possible to add up to 20% other ingredients into a bread dough and if you add pea or bean flour then you can prepare a bread recipe that provide for all the essential amino acids you need. This article tells you about how breads works and gives you a basic recipe for a wheat bread containing maize flour.
The Romans were the first peoples to formally add a dessert course at the end of a meal. Here you will learn a little about why we like sweet desserts and why they all, in one way or another, echo the fruit our ancestors used to eat. You will also see two recipes for classic fruit-based desserts.
Many cooks are apprehensive about baking, thinking it to be an extremely laborious and involved process. Following a complicated recipe and ensuring that everything is 'just so'. In fact, the basic sponge cake recipe is a very simple one and this article takes you through some of the rules and pitfalls of baking and gives you two sponge cake recipes to try. Follow this guide and they will come out perfectly every time.
Ethiopia is one of the most ethnically, geographically and religiously divers countries in the World. Indeed, it's one of the world's oldest countries and the second country to have become officially Christianized. Ethiopian cuisine is also unique and wholly native and here you will find a taster of that cuisine, with a classic bread and stew combination.
Learn a little about the origins of British biscuits and American cookies and how these classic baked goods differ from one another. Also presented is a recipe for a classic American chocolate chip cookie and a traditional British tea-time biscuit.
With Autumn approaching, the mind naturally turns to how best to preserve the season's glut of fruit for the coming winter. One of the best preservation methods is to turn the fruit into jams and jellies, which will last you through the winter and well into the following spring. Here you will learn the secrets of making perfect jams and jellies with grape jam being used as an example.
When you examine the history of drinks, what you see is the attempt by human civilizations to render drinking water safe. This article gives an introduction to the ways various civilizations have chosen to make water safe to drink as well as providing two recipes for a fruit juice drink and a spice infusion of lemongrass.
When thinking of cakes, everyone automatically imagines a recipe for baking. Yet, for hundreds of years before ovens became ubiquitous cakes were being steamed rather than baked. Here you will find a recipe for a classic steamed cake that you can prepare anywhere, even on the barbecue or whilst camping. Wow your friends by giving them a freshly-steamed cake the next time you go camping.
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