Bread in the Middle Ages
In the millenary history of cooking the bread it is certainly the food with the highest symbolic value, the one for which, due to a shortage or an unjustified price increase, there have often been clashes and even important social upheavals.
The 'origin bread , although different from what we know and eat today, it is lost in the mists of time; Recent archaeological finds have brought to light remains of "biscuits" cooked on stone dating back thousands of years obtained, among other things, at least according to the sophisticated analyzes carried out, from tree roots.
In the peoples of Mesopotamia barley flour was used to prepare the "schiacciata", while the Egyptians they were the first to introduce yeast and consequently to obtain a higher and softer type of bread.
The bread of the Greeks it consisted of simple cooked flour, but in an infinite number of ways; the most widespread, especially among the less well-off classes, was the "maza", a light "biscuit" of barley flour, the richest ate that of wheat flour daily and, those who could afford it, certainly preferred the "agoraigos “, which seems to be the best in all of Attica.
In Greece, the ceremonies involved the consumption of special and precious breads to offer to the gods, as evidenced by numerous representations that have come down to us.
In Rome bread spread relatively late and for a long time it was essentially that made from spelled flour; with the passage of time, depending on the type of ingredients used, the grinding, processing and destination, it diversified in various ways, since there was that for the rich, for the poor, for slaves, for soldiers and even for dogs ( panis furfureus ).
In Europe, bread became the staple food of the diet only starting from the Middle Ages, an era in which for the first time it differed in black, made with rye or, in economically difficult times, with chestnut and acorn flour, and in white, made with wheat. Photo from:(pamart.it)