| During a recent trip to San Francisco I came across | | | | the Mediterranean. This sparked new improvements |
| the most famous sourdough bread made in the U.S.; | | | | with the development of clay ovens and the |
| the San Francisco Sourdough. This bread has | | | | introduction of the rotary mill in 1,000 BC. These |
| remained in production for nearly 150 years and | | | | advances spread to other civilizations including |
| combined with an amazing soup that is placed inside | | | | African, Asian, Indian and much later American |
| the bread, it constitutes today one of the most | | | | cultures.Bread became so important that the bread |
| popular dishes of the West U.S. Coast.In general, | | | | industry began being controlled by those in power in |
| bread has been around for centuries. Experts believe | | | | the 11th century, by price and weight regulation. With |
| that its origins started nearly 12,000 years ago. As | | | | further developments in agricultural machinery greater |
| one of the oldest prepared foods, bread is dating | | | | crop yields were realized. Hence, bakers headed |
| back to the Neolithic era. The first breads produced | | | | towards the towns.Otto Frederick Rohwedder is |
| were probably cooked versions of a grain-paste, | | | | considered to be the father of sliced bread. In 1912 |
| made from ground cereal grains and water and | | | | Rohwedder started work on inventing a machine that |
| shaped into loaves that were laid on heated stones | | | | sliced bread, but bakeries were reluctant to use it |
| or baked by covering with hot ash. Descendants of | | | | since they were concerned the sliced bread would go |
| these early breads are still commonly made from | | | | stale. It wasn't until 1928, when Rohwedder invented |
| various grains worldwide, with the Mexican tortilla, | | | | a machine that both sliced and wrapped the bread, |
| Indian chapati, Chinese poa ping, Scots oatcake, | | | | that sliced bread caught on. A bakery in Chillicothe, |
| North American johnnycake, and Ethiopian injera all | | | | Missouri was the first to use this machine to produce |
| being examples. However, the earliest documentation | | | | sliced bread.For generations, white bread was |
| traces bread to the Middle East, where Egyptians | | | | considered the preferred bread of the rich while the |
| cultivated grains. They baked flat breads, which are | | | | poor ate dark bread. However, the connotations |
| still eaten today, for many centuries until the | | | | reversed in the 20th century with dark bread |
| discovery of fermentation at least three thousand | | | | becoming preferred as having superior nutritional |
| years ago.The technique of fermentation, which | | | | value while white bread became associated with |
| causes bread to rise, spread to all countries bordering | | | | lower class ignorance of nutrition. |