Where was bread invented

A. Bread is one of the oldest foods known to man and has been a staple food for over 5,000 years. It even has the biblical name of The Staff of Life. Some 8,000 years ago man made flour by crushing grains between two stones. The flour was mixed with water and the paste was dried in the sun, making a bread. After this, a bake stone was used to bake a risen loaf.

Q. When did yeast come into it

A. The Egyptians were the first to use yeast and produce risen loaves. They also invented the first oven for baking. From there on people ate every kind of bread, depending on where they lived.

Q. Where did the sandwich originate

A. Better farming led to a higher yield of grain. Cornish tin mining produced bakiing tins and so bread was produced that could be sliced or used for toast. It was of course the 4th Earl of Sandwich who gave the name to the sandwich. The story goes he was too busy gambling to have a meal and he ordered cold roast beef between two slices of bread.

Q. How should you eat bread

A. Handling bread gracefully is the test for a well-bred diner, but you can pass with flying colours if you remember to break slices of bread rolls and muffins into small pieces before eating and buttering them.

Q. Which flour is best for bread

A. In the UK, plain flour is always made from soft grains, so this is used for cakes and pastry, while the one labelled strong flour has a high gluten content, so it is the one needed for most types of bread.

Q. What is flour milling

A. What happens here is the what grains are crushed and ground, either between traditional milling stones or modern automatic rollers, but it's the human skill of the miller that determines the quality of the flour.

Q. Which flour do you need for a wholemeal loaf

A. Use 100% organically produced wholewheat flour, plus a little extra for the top.

Q. What else do you find in a traditional wholemeal recipe

A.Depending on how much you are making, two teaspoons of salt, one teaspoon of soft light brown sugar, two teaspoons of easy-blnd dried yeast and about 400mls of hand-hot water. Follow your bread-making recipe and this will produce either a 2lb loaf tin or two 1lb loaf tins.

Q. Which breads belong to which parts of the world

A . Soda bread, mixed with bicarbonate of soda and buttermilk, gives you a real taste of the Emerald Isle. Flat breads, the earliest form of breads, are still eaten in much of the Middle East, Asia and Africa. The grains used in such breads are commonly barley, millet and buckwheat. Millet is used in chapatiis, which are popular in India. Corn is used to make small flat cakes known as tortillas in Latin America and in Brazil small cakes are made from cassava.

Q. And the Mediterraenean

A. Italian in origin, crostini are 'little crusts'. In France they are called croutons and both are little round squares of bread brushed with olive oil or butter, and sometime crushed garlic, and baked in the oven. Brushetta is a very special type of toasted bread - toasted on both sides over hot, fragrant coals, then slashes are made along the surface of each bread, which is rubbed with a garlic clove. Peppery extra virgin olive oil is poured over and it can be easily made at home using a griddle. Other popular Italian breads are garlic bread, foccacia, calzone, a folded pizza type bread, and ciabatta; all made with olive oil and Italian herbs.

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By Katharine MacColl