El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-08-13
Bread 1900 Years Old
Well Shaped LOaves Found in Pom
peifan Ruins; American Bread
Reaches Perfection.
-BT rcd eric J. HasksR

" AsHINGToN D. C., Aug ID


symbol of all that We need to save our
eat it in the sweat of our faces under
the first Divine command. We break
bread with friends, and we measure the
depths of poverty when we say that
the beggar had not a crust The staff
of Life" it is called, and the honor is
not unworthily bestowed. In the days
of POmpeii, good bread was baked, and
loaves of it have been found in the
city ruins buried since the year 70.
From the Time Of Abraham
From the time of Abraham. who
| baked bread for the angels on the
plains of Mamie, thousands of years
ago, down to the present there has been
in every land some preparation OF
baked dough which served the pur-
pose of bread. The earliest bread was
of course most simply made, being only
mixture of meal and water baked IN
the crudest way. The first breads were
unleavened, but the fact that in the
time of Lot, unleavened bread was
mentioned, indicates that even then
there were two kinds of bread in use
Modern Bread Reaches Perfection.
The modern bread. as known in
America and in the better cIasseS OF
European homes. represents the high
opment Of what has long been con-
sidered the staff of life. It comes as
a generous sized, crusty loaf baked
of white flour, is well raised and is
more apt to be found as the product of
the bakery than of the household
kitchen.
To a large degree, the bread Of a
community is determined by its eco
nOmic conditions. In this country New
England has always been dependent
upon the loaves of bread which could
be eaten cold and kept for a number of
days because the New Englanders have
always been compelled to consider the
cost of labor and also because the
wheat raised in that region was best
adapted to making good raised bread.
Hot Bread in the south
The sOutherners, on the contrary,
had plenty of servants in the days OF
slavery and the wheat raised in the
south did not make good tasty cold
bread, although for hot biscuits and
similar uses 1t was admirable. With
the Importation of hard wheat from
the great northwestern farms and the
decrease in the supply of household
servants came the need of a more
stable bread supply. The southern
women are therefore beginning to en-
courage their families to eat cold fresh
bread, although it is predicted that at
least another generation will pass be-
will become general throughout the
south, and it probably never will dis
place corn bread there as it has else
where.
The weekly baking day, a time hon
Ored institution for centuries in New
England, will never extend TO any
great degree in the southern states.
Aside from the southern prejudice in
favor of fresh. hot bread food. the DIFF
fieulty of securing and keeping good
yeast in warm climate makes raised
bread making a bugbear to the aver
age housewife. Now that good yeast
made scientifically in a modern factory
is ayOilable she still does not under
take any large amount of raised bread I
making
Bakers Bread Favored.
The bread which the urban south is
learning to appreciate and enjoy is the
product of the commercial bakery.
This is true in other parts of the
country as well The bakers delivery
wagon has gone beyond the city limits
and reaches a larger number of farm
houses each year because the changing
conditions Of domestic life are rem
dering it more difficult even for the [
farmers wife to bake her own bread
supply and also because of the i'm
prOvement Of the bakers loaf both IN |
taste and digestibility.
A collection of the various forms Of 4
bread known to have been in existence /
in the world indicates a gradual ev- !
olution from the Egyptian raised bread /
to the light wholesome rolls and loaEes !
of the present 1t is of course impos- /
slDle to secure specimens of the earlier /
breads which were so numerous in va 1
riety. In ancient Athens at least 81 !
were in use by the Greeks and good 4
descriptions Of some of them are in :
existence. They were made of wheat, !
barley, rye, millet, rice, spelt, tiphe /
and soft grain imported from Ethiopia 4
called orindion- The Greeks had the |
reputation of being excellent bakers /
nearly all of the three hundred public
bakeries in Rome were conducted by 1
Greeks.
Bread From POmpeiian Ruins.
In the recent excavation in Pompeii
three bake shops were found in almost
perfect condition. One of these is be-
lieved to have belonged to the house
Of Salust, another to that Of of Panza
ana the third to a sort of a capitalist
who conducted a bakery in what ap-
parently was his dwelling house, in
stead of hiring a room as was the Gus |
tom Of bakers of the period. The mills
Tor grinding the flour, which were
part Of the equipment of the ancient /
were found in good working
order and near them the kneading
-roughs, and vessels containing water.
Inc 1OaVeS OF bread both in and out 2
of the oven were all recognizable
Even the flour could be identified A
loaf Of bread, round and well raised,
was found with the name of the baker,
-Eleris Grant, Riser" stamped upon it
The pompeiian ovens differ little from
those which are still in use in many
parts of Europe and were used largely
N this country until within the last
half century. They were built of stone
)r clay and were heated by having a
Ire built inside of them. An ash pit
below received the ashes through 2
lole in the bottom of the oven.
Legends Connected With Bread.
In America there are fewer legends
connected with bread than in the older
but many of the old customs
lave been brought here from the
.atherland- Many an old woman of
German extraction will give a fervent
God bless usi" if a bit of bread ac-
;identally falls to the ground. because
he believes that someone begrudges
Ter her food and she wishes to avert
he i'll will If, when cutting bread, |
he knife starts out or refuses to cut.
t indicates either that the person for
whom it is intended has no real hung
r or else has not justly earned it for {
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou
at bread" is the basis of the bread
ore of most primitive races.
.