OUR DAILY BREAD

The history of bread goes back to earliest civilisation. Fermentation using yeast was discovered by accident 3.000 or 4000 years ago on the banks of the Nile. The stocks of wheat were a symbol of the first capital assets in the history of mankind. It was a synonym for money. The flour mills were the first to make use of natural power, for example wind or water. Hundreds of years have passed from placing the dough on a hot stone to baking it in a modern oven

Bread belongs to our life. When we pray: “give us our daily bread”, we pray for food at large. Bread has a significance beyond mere nutrition. It is a cultural symbol of basic necessities. We talk of “the bread winner” and think of the household’s main economic contributor. There are many customs involving bread like cutting a cross into the crust before it is shared among the eaters, symbolic for saying grace. In rural parts of Spain and Italy the bread is blessed or kissed before it is broken and eaten. An old German custom is to bring bread and salt to a house warming.

The last few months, the price of a loaf, as of most food, has risen. The farmers have a bad crop as the wheat got flattened by too much rain. Worldwide, food is more in demand but in shorter supply. In better or worse times, bread should be treasured, and there is no place in the bin for it. There are a lot of excellent recipes for leftovers or for bread, which got stale. Think of bread and butter pudding, rarebit, bread soup, or simply bread crumbs.

The time when we could get little else but “plastic bread”, as my then little boy called the rubbery, tasteless, too white bread is long past. Now there are a lot of artisan bakers and we are spoilt for choice. Making your own bread is another way of getting really good quality. Once baking gets into your blood, you can hardly stop. The variety of flour, which is on offer makes it all the more interesting. Good bread needs nothing more but best quality of flour, water, yeast, salt and time. In fact, it does not take much of your own time, but you have to be patient until the dough has risen to its full size. It is Slow Food at its best. If you worry that kneading could take too much of your energy, there is always a machine which does the work for you.

The word bread translates into Pane, Brot, Pain, Pan, Nan, Chleb. It is a word we can easily remember when we are in foreign countries. There we can explore the differences in taste and shape, which are on offer and experience a culinary and cultural journey on its own. We should never get hungry, as long as we have the pleasure of eating a good, nutritious piece of bread.

So when we celebrate Harvest Festival, we decorate the church with flowers, fruit and vegetables and place a loaf of bread on the altar. We have good reason to be thankful.

Elisabeth Davies