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Bread
can be an ingredient in other foods, a vessel to hold foods or eaten on its
own. With its diversity, it has remained
a culinary staple for thousands of years.
Being such a staple, we don’t often think about the living component
that is in most bread. Yeast is this amazing
unicellular, microorganism that is capable of making dough rise and turning
sugar from grain into alcohol. This is
the story of yeast and our pursuit of keeping it.
A look at yeast from under a microscope.
This is Saccharomyces cerevisiae the most common yeast available.
The
circumstances surrounding the discovery of yeast are unclear, but there is a consensus
by most that it was an accident. There
are some theories; however, that might explain the discovery of yeast. The most probable is that a type of dough was
left out for enough time that natural yeast from the air and in the grain
combined with the nutrients from the grain to create noticeably lighter dough
than before. It was then cooked and the
result was eaten and enjoyed. So the
process was replicated. From this
process they learned that yeast could be collected from around us and kept by
providing the needed nutrients and moisture.
The knowledge of how to keep yeast was the one thing our predecessors
understood. Other than this, they really
didn’t know much about it. People began
very early trying to figure out what it was.
Some believed it to be a third earth, third water and a third fire. Others simply considered it God’s gift to
humanity. So there became a cycle of
using yeast and trying to preserve it.
There
were several methods used to preserve yeast.
One was when people took leftover dough made with yeast and mixed it
with water and with flour to create a batter.
This batter was then painted on the inside of a pail or tub and allowed
to dry. Once dry, another layer would be
painted on until 4 to 5 layers had accumulated.
This would have been stored in a dry place. When you wanted some yeast you simply took a
small piece and ground it using some warm water and possibly sugar. Another process for preserving yeast was to
make yeast cakes. To make these, they
would have taken barm, which is leftover yeast that has settled to the bottom
of a batch of beer, mixed this with water and flour to create a thick
dough. This would have been allowed to
dry and reconstituted for use the same way as the previous method. Finally, if a baker didn’t have yeast, they could
have always gone to the local beer brewer and get fresh barm to use in their
baked good.
"The Virginia Housewife"
Mary Randolph
1838
"The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy"
Hannah Glasse
1758
For
thousands of years there has been a relationship between the brewers and the
bakers. These professions were essential
to life well into the early 19th century. This relationship is comically portrayed in “The
Complete Baker; or a Method of Effectually raising a Bushel of Flour, with a
Tea-Spoonful of Barm” which shows how one trade could always depend on the
other for the crucial ingredient of their livelihood.
An Egyptian Model
A model of a Bakery and Brewery side by side
showing their importance as a group.
2009-1998 B.C.
"The Complete Baker; or, a Method of Effectually Raising a Bushel of Flour with a Tea-Spoonful of Barm"
By: James Stone
1770
Through
the ages yeast and the items made with it have been treated with a certain
mystique. Even with today’s modern
science and all we know about yeast you can’t help but look at a bowl of rising
dough with a certain level of awe. So
next time you have your PB&J sandwich, remember the little magic called
yeast that helped make it enjoyable.
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