Wheat and bread: a historical introduction.

Historical Although the wheat plant (Triticum) is nowhere found in the wild state, it has been cultivated for human food from the earliest times of which we have record. The origin is held to have been in south-west Asia, in Mesopotamia. When Abraham (about 2000 B.C.) was visited by three angels unawares, he commanded Sarah to ‘make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth’ (Genesis, 18,6). The word ‘knead’ suggests the formation of a dough and the mention of leaven when Lot made a feast hurriedly for the two angels who met him in the gate of Sodom and ‘did bake unleavened bread’ (Genesis, 19,3) is evidence that the meal used was wheaten meal. These instances suggest that wheaten bread was a common food in the basin of the Euphrates and Tigris, including Ur of the Chaldees, for which there is confirmatory evidence from modern archaeological researches. From Mesopotamia cultivation of wheat spread eastward to China and westward to Europe. Grains of a primitive species of wheat (Triticum monococcum) have been identified in the calcined remnants of food found in the ruins of the Swiss lakedwellers of the later Stone Age. The ancient Egyptians were skilled in the art of bread baking and, although barley and millet (Sorghum) were largely consumed, white bread made from fine wheaten flour was available for those who could afford it. The urge of most Europeans to choose wheat as a staple food in preference to other cereals has been evident throughout the ages. In the Greek and Roman civilizations wheat was imported to provide bread for the large cities. By simple methods of shaking, sieving and bolting the stone-milled product, various grades of flour were obtained and the finest and whitest of the products was highly esteemed as a luxury to be enjoyed by the rich citizen whereas dark bread carried something of a social stigma. At the same time, bread made from wholemeal flour was the usual food of country dwellers. I n our islands where only the more southern districts were suited for wheat growing, barIey, rye and oats were largely used in the past, both alone and mixed