“Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread…” (1)

Since ancient times, bread has been considered one of the most important food nature provided to people. Historians wrote about it in their ancient works (see Plinius the Old), it was included in prayers (see Our Father the prayer), it fed entire nations throughout history. Even today, despite the existence of such diversified food, bread is still considered an almost indispensable food all over globe.

Historians place the bread as staple food since Neolithic – that period of prehistory in which humanity began to lay the foundation for tools and agriculture development – although initial bread was more like a hard cake, unleavened, from grains of barley and millet, later wheat, mixed with water. We can speak about the leavened bread from the beginning of the XVIII BC in Egypt, when the use of wheat with a higher amount of gluten, along with various combinations of fermentation (foam beer, wheat bran soaked in wine, fermented grape juice with flour), allowed the growth of the bread dough and the obtaining of a much fluffier bread, very different from the bread we know today, though.

The ovens and the grain grinding techniques development increased bakers’ creativity: in the wealthy Greeks kitchens from antiquity, bread dough began to gain more importance, being used in other combinations: honey, poppy, mushrooms, spices etc. Subsequently, the development of the industry made the bread production to be improved by using white, refined flour and by introducing the yeast in the cooking process. This development led to the standard image of the modern world about the ideal bread: white bread with fluffy interior and crunchy, browned crust, at the expense of the darker bread.

Today, bread is not only black or white anymore. It contains seeds of all kinds. I may be made of potatoes. Or more types of flour. It’s called French bread, ciabatta, baguette … It comes from the bakery or it is homemade, in modern appliances or rustic ovens. And it is still consumed all over the world.

White bread was long considered “the rich people bread”, while the black one was meant for the poor. Subsequent research showed, however, that the brown bread is nutritionally superior to the white one, it is richer in nutrients, minerals and vitamins, so it became more wanted and consumed by people, being associated with a healthier food style. Normally, all flour products represent a major source of carbohydrates, but the dark bread made from whole grains, provides the body with extra nutrients such as vitamin B, magnesium, iron, selenium and dietary fiber.

With high nutritional value, bread is seen constantly in fear when it comes to diets. Should I eat it or not? Does my body need bread? How to associate bread to other types of food?

Because for the human stomach it is difficult to digest two heavy foods at the same time, nutritionists do not recommend pairing bread with foods rich in animal protein (meat, eggs, cheese), so we don’t feel bloated after eating. But then again, where is the pleasure in putting a steaming piece of bread in the chicken legs sauce cooked in a pot, a bean soup with smoked meat or how the Vatra beef fillet with vegetables and flavored sauce would be without the crouton underneath it? However, if you don’t want to feel guilty for your food choice, here at Vatra we have a healthy, homemade vegetable stew, which goes quite well spread on a loaf of white or dark bread and we will, also, provide you with a sit on our full of flowers terrace, to properly enjoy a summer evening.

Book a table at: https://vatra.ro/en/reservations