Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook–so glad you’re here!
We are beginning our first full week of Lent, and I’m continuing my exploration of Biblical foods. This week, I’ll be focusing on bread, otherwise known as “the staff of life.”
Bread is one of mankind’s most ancient of foods, and one of the most important foods, dating back some 30,000 years. Flatbreads are probably the earliest form of bread, and would have evolved into pizza, making for a “one-and-done” sort of meal, with other foods topping the pizza for a handy way to eat your meal on the go–in fact, it still is today.
In Medieval times, pre-dinner plates, the flat bread evolved into what was known as a “trencher,” or kind of a plate, onto which was topped the evening’s meal. The trencher soaked up the juices from the meat, and or vegetables piled on it and at the end of the meal, the trencher was given to the beggars–or to the dog, if he was lucky enough! I know my little boy wouldn’t turn down a trencher after we’d finished our dinner off it!
Leavened breads also came along very early in man’s history. I found information suggesting several leavening agents thought to be utilized, including the previous day’s bread dough, which would have acted a lot like a sourdough starter, or mixing wine with the dough.
Still other sources insist that the first leavening agent was foam skimmed off the top of beer–but therein lies a whole rat’s nest of controversy about which came first–bread or beer? Most folks seem to come down on the side that beer came first, but others posit that gruel made from grain and water came first. I think that kind of makes sense, but not because of any scientific evidence. I buy into the “whose turn is to do the dishes” theory–beer and bread both would be a natural offshoot of someone not doing the dishes one night, a fermentation starting, and either a tasty drink or baked good coming from the results. But that’s just me 😉
In any case, bread became and has always held an important position in man’s history. Bread also occupies an important role in the Bible. In fact, it is arguably the most important food in the Bible, representing the Body of Christ.
Bread plays a starring role throughout the Bible: It not only represents nourishment for our bodies, it represents nourishment for our souls, as at Bathsaida, where bread served as physical nourishment for the stomachs of the 5,000, as well as spiritual nourishment for their souls via the Word of God.
Throughout the Bible, an offering of bread represents caring, love, respect and hospitality. Bread was certainly consumed at the Last Supper; and then there’s the phrase “breaking bread,” which refers to the ritual of communion, in which bread and wine stand in for the body and blood of Christ. And in the world writ large, “breaking bread” means to share a meal together, whether it be family, friend or stranger.
And with that introduction, let’s get rolling on that pizza dough, shall we? Did you see what I did there? Ok…
Pizza dough is super easy to put together and pizza can be served as a main dish with toppings of all sorts, such as asparagus and burrata as shown here:
Or, it can be served as a side with a meal and simply brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with a little salt. Try it with only a brush of pesto sauce–super delicious! Give it a try with fresh apples or pears and jam as a dessert (be sure to make this in a cookie sheet, though because it will get juicy!) And the best part about pizza dough? It can be pre-portioned and frozen into individual pizza servings so you can pull it out of the freezer and bake it fresh.
Click here for a recipe for basic tomato sauce for pizza.
Click here for my famous pesto sauce recipe.
Tune in tomorrow for more fun with bread!
Until then,
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
