Ancient bread baking in Italy, Cyprus and more

I have seen the ovens of Pompeii which are in remarkably good shape.   I think of those bakers when I make bread in my masonry oven.  They baked their breads without using a laser thermometer.   : )

that you can be sure of is that for thousands of years, millions of bread makers have made just about every bread you can think of using all kinds of grains, beans, fruits,nuts, seeds and who knows what else.  Even though SD is ancient in nature, going back to at least the Egyptians thousands of years ago and is likely even older, not much bread was made wlth SD just like today.  The reasons are simple enough.  It takes too long to make SD bread, most people don't like sour bread, it costs more and is unconsistent - just like today.

In the scheme of things almost all bread made today is made with commercial yeast - even with the resurgence of SD today that brought it back from the near death.  In ancient times before commercial yeast almost all bread was made with beer or wine barm - the yeast that commercial yeast today was derived from in the later 1800's.  That is archaeologists find bakeries right next to or close to breweries - their source of yeast.  Bread was a staple just like today and it had to be fast cheap and made in mass quantities.

Historically, SD was used by people who didn't have access to barm: travelers, pioneers and those that lived far away from breweries.  My grand mother used SD on the farm because she was far from the nearest brewery and she was a tea toddler - so no no hooch ever crossed her doorway..  Don't get me wrong, just like today, there have always been people who prefer SD bread like the enthusiasts on TFL but the bread made pales in comparison to the quantity of loaves made with barm and commercial yeast even if the quality was doggy in comparison.

I was watching a PBS show not long ago about the history of Sourdough presented by a Culinary Paleontologist who said that those who make SD bread today, as in the past, are and were on the on the cutting edge of bread making since so few people were making it, there is more undiscovered territory, less is known about it and the future is brighter - plus the bread is better if you like sour bread and have plenty of time on your hands.

Happy SD baking 

I haven't read anything by Ed Woods but, instead, have read about him.  Here is one that might be of some interest to you.

http://www.amazon.com/World-Sourdoughs-Antiquity-Ed-Wood/dp/0962269468

Ed Wood was an American pathologist that went to work in the Mid-east (Egypt, Saudi Arabia ??) and developed an interest in bread, especially sourdough.

His blog.   http://www.sourdo.com/

His short blog bio.  http://www.sourdo.com/who-we-are/

As I said, I haven't read him but it looks like some interesting googling.  Good Luck

P.S. Love Amsterdam but haven't been there since the early 70's.

If you're on Facebook, you should check out the group Bread History and Practice: https://www.facebook.com/groups/breadhistory/?fref=ts  

The group is run by William Rubel, a bread historian; many other bakers and food historians contribute occasional posts or link to other content on the web. 

Happy researching!

Scott