Welcome to the Celtnet Bread Recipes Home Page

Welcome to Celtnet's Bread Recipes — This is the first of an occasional series on staple foods and dishes. We know that bread has been baked for at least 7000 yars, from the stone age through to today. Indeed, before the availability of potatoes bread formed the staple foodstuff of much of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. As a foodstuff bread is so versatile that almost any starch-based foundation can be used for the production of bread (not just oats, wheat and barley). Indeed, there is a move now to introduce more millet (a native African grain) into the breads of Africa, as wheat only grows in a few African countries. Other breads include flours made from cassava, yams and plantains as well as grated or mashed versions of these foodstuffs. As a bread can be any type of savoury baked dough that includes a rising agent (typically yeast, but also baking soda) I'm using a fairly loose definition in terms of selecting bread recipes for inclusion on this page. I also have bread recipes from the stone age to the present day as well as representative breads from all across the globe. Bread is incredibly versatile as a foodstuff, keeps for many days and there's nothing like the aroma of your own freshly-baked bread filling your kitchen on a sunny weekend morning.

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.

Leaven

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

Iumbolls

Shellbread

Short Cakes

Course Ginger Bread

Manchet

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.

Date and Walnut LoafDate Loaf
Apple Bread with ToppingPineapple Bread
Banana Bread 1Banana Bread 2
Breadfruit BreadCarrot and Coconut Bread
Coconut BreadPapaya Bread
Philippines Banana BreadPumpkin Bread
Bara BrithLemon Nut Loaf
Altdeutsche BrotchenNthochi Bread

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 BreadLiberian Rice Bread
Cassava and Plantain BreadPan di Spagna
Caribbean Cassava BreadPhilippines 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 StollenPanettone
Hot Cross BunsNigerian 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:

GyngerbredeCourse Ginger Bread
GingerbreadOatmeal Gingerbread
Gingerbread MenPlantain Gingerbread






Cooking with Beef - Making the Most of Beef Cuts

By gwydion | Published 2008-10-21 15:53:45 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

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 Mark Grant

By gwydion | Published 2008-04-15 18:44:09 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

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.

Baking Breads with Non-wheat Constituents

By gwydion | Published 2008-09-15 16:11:09 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

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.

Fruit-based Dessert Recipes

By gwydion | Published 2008-10-30 09:37:35 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

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.

Don't Fear Baking - Making Cakes is Easy!

By gwydion | Published 2008-06-30 17:02:53 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

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.

The Foods and Recipes of Ethiopia

By gwydion | Published 2008-10-09 22:22:24 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

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.

The Origins of Biscuits and Cookies

By gwydion | Published 2008-08-22 15:53:26 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

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.

How to Make Jams and Jellies

By gwydion | Published 2008-10-02 09:12:12 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

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.

Drinks Recipes - The Quest for Safe Drinks

By gwydion | Published 2008-11-03 14:22:44 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

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.

How to Bake Without an Oven

By gwydion | Published 2008-08-21 19:05:07 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

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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