Give Us Our Daily Bread

I have been reading “The Omniovre’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan where he examines the American food chain. It has been making me more mindful of what my family eats. Apparently, in North America, everything we eat has an amount of corn in it – our beef, pork,  and poultry are fed corn, we eat high sucrose corn syrup in almost anything sweet. We burn it in our gas, we add corn flour to baked goods. The book set me pondering about our most basic food item – bread.

Many people have a love-hate relationship with bread (myself included). Dr. Atkins told us how bad it is for us and how it will put on the pounds. Many people are finding they have wheat allergies or celiac disease. Today, bread is enjoying a reversal of its fortune with nutritionists. We should eat bread, they say, as long as it has whole grains.

Image via Wikipedia

History

Bread has been the staple of human food since the neolithic era. It was probably a cooked grain paste at that time. It was certainly, unleavened, flat type bread that our earlierst ancestors ate. The first evidence of leavened bread was found in Egypt. It is thought that leavening (rising) happened by accident – some airborne particles of yeast got into bread dough and made it rise and become lighter and fluffy. Pliny the Elder reports that the Gauls and Iberians (regions of France and Spain today) used foam skimmed from beer as their leavening agent. Non-beer drinking cultures used fermented grape juice or wheat bran steeped in wine to make their bread rise. It was also common everywhere to use a piece of yesterday’s dough as a starting agent for today’s bread. Oh, yes, bread was baked every day. It had no preservatives and it was eaten for every meal, every day, so there was a constant need.

In the middle ages in Europe bread was used not only as a good staple, but also as a utensil. It was not uncommon to serve stew in a bread bowl, which could then be eaten or given to the dogs.

Cultural Importance

Bread is such a basic need that humanity has come to equate it with well being and food in general. “Give us today our daily bread” pray the Catholics. Bread is what unites us all, but also divides us. Throughout history, white bread was the privilege of the rich. The poorer the table it was served on, the coarser and darker the bread. In that sense, bread provided a barometer of how well someone was doing financially. It is not until the 20th century that the trend reversed. Now, white, bleached bread is considered the food of the poor or uneducated tiers of society, whereas the higher, more educated ones have whole grained, darker breads.

Whole Grains?

So what is the big deal about these whole grains? Whole grains are the entire grain kernels: bran (outer layer), endosperm (middle), and germ (inner layer rich in nutrients). Refined grains have lost their bran and germ through milling. This gives the end product a longer shelf life and smoother texture, but also strips the flour of fibre, vitamin B, and iron.

Image via Wikipedia

Whole grains contain vitamins, minerals, and antioxodants. These in turn help protect us from many preventable illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, certain cancers, and gastrointestinal problems. Before you rush out to the store in search of this miracle food, remember that whole wheat does not mean whole grain. In North America, we need to really read the package before we buy anything. It is also wise to consume products made of a variety of flours (whole grains, of course) like rye, spelt, and kamut. They’re also much more flavourful than the usual white bread.

Oh, and of course, as ever if you want to learn more, Wikipedia has a lovely article about bread that you should check out.