⪮ Good Morning
In Reykjavik, summer is here and we're nearly at 24h of sunlight! This month's links are all bread related. It's amazing how bread can connect the dots to unlocking something much bigger.
🍞🌋 Carbonized Panis Quadratus
We know that Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 00079 CE on a Wednesday because loaves of Panis Quadratus were found suspended in time in ovens in Pompeii and Herculaneum.
This type of bread, split into 8 wedges, was baked only on Wednesdays.
Loaves of bread found in Pompeii and Herculaneum
https://www.instagram.com/p/CvFpBzlN35S/
2,000-year-old preserved loaf of bread found in the ruins of Pompeii
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/07/07/ancient-bread/
Recipe - Panis Quadratus: Ancient Bread of Pompeii
https://breadtopia.com/panis-quadratus-ancient-bread-of-pompeii/
🍞🪵 Oldest wood-fired bakery in Greece
Over 50 years before Columbus sailed to North America, the wood-fired ovens in a small Mykonos bakery were lit for the first time.
The bread they baked over 600 year ago, starting in 01420, was known as 'sea bread', a kind of "paximadia" typical for the area. These hard rusks made of barley or wheat were twice baked and seasoned with local herbs, olive oil and anise.
Baked to endure long voyages, this bread could be preserved for up to a year.
Gioras: The 'Parthenon of all Greek woodfired bakeries'
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240215-gioras-the-parthenon-of-all-greek-woodfired-bakeries
Trip Advisor: Gioras Wood Medieval Mykonian Bakery
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g189430-d12572094-Reviews-Gioras_Wood_Medieval_Mykonian_Bakery-Mykonos_Cyclades_South_Aegean.html
🍞🦠 Amateur Egyptologist bakes 4,500 year old sourdough
During the 02020 lockdown, many people started baking bread, but Seamus Blackley's sourdough was unique. A trained physicist, amateur Egyptologist and video game producer credited with inventing the Xbox, he took over a year to perfect his sourdough starter.
With a small team of experts, he extracted 4,500-year-old dormant yeast samples from ancient Egyptian baking vessels and revived them.
Next was the task of baking the dough using ancient methods. After extensive research, trial and error and plenty of mistakes, he managed to perfect the underground baking technique.
Gastro Obscura: How the Man Who Invented Xbox Baked a 4,500-Year-Old Egyptian Sourdough
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-bread-did-ancient-egyptians-eat
New York Times: Ancient Egyptian Yeast Is This Bread’s Secret Ingredient
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/08/science/egyptian-yeast-bread.html
🍞🧺 Basket of Bread
"The Basket of Bread" painting was created over four months in 01926 by a 22 year old Salvador Dali. He completed this work during his last months at art school in Madrid. It demonstrates his technical skill as a painter by creating an intense realism reminiscent of one of his artistic role models: Johannes Vermeer.
Nineteen years later, Dali returned to the subject of bread in the 01945 work "Basket of Bread-Rather Death Than Shame". This painting caught the eye of the editor of the world's largest circulated magazine, leading to it bring printed in the weekly magazine and seen by more than 15 million people, giving Dali his first mass audience.
01926 The Basket of Bread
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Basket_of_Bread
01945 Basket of Bread
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basket_of_Bread