Uma compilação de curiosidades sobre uma das comidas mais antigas da humanidade.
Este texto é de nível avançado.
As palavras grifadas têm explicação ao final do texto.
7 things you didn't know about bread
1. The first baker lived around 100,000 years ago
An anthropologist recently found a cave in Mozambique containing pounding stones, with traces of wild grain, which dated back to 100,000 years ago.
2. Whole loaves of bread were found in Pompeii
In Pompeii and Herculaneum, not only are there frescoes containing paintings of bread, but archaeologists have found actual loaves of bread that were carbonized and preserved centuries ago in the volcanic ashes of Mount Vesuvius.
3. There are paintings of Jesus eating pretzels
Dating from the 1500s, there are German paintings of the Last Supper that show Christ and the apostles having pretzels.
4. French baguettes are not as traditional as we think
France's typical stick of bread is in fact a 20th-century urban bread. In the 19th Century, bread was a major source of calories. In order to survive on nothing but bread, you need to eat half a kilogram to a kilogram per person, per day. A baguette only has 250 grams.
5. The first ciabatta was baked in the 1980s
Just as baguettes are a modern invention, so is the Italian ciabatta. It was created in 1982 by a baker in Verona, Italy, in response to the popularity of the French baguette.
6. A squeeze of pineapple juice helps the dough
Braiding bread, like Jewish challah, can be tricky. But there's a trick: add a drop or two of pineapple juice to your dough – or any fruit with the enzyme that dissolves protein, like kiwi or papaya – and braiding your bread becomes much easier.
7. There’s no need to knead
Kneading certainly speeds the bread-making process up, but that’s the only benefit. In fact, you can make great bread without kneading. Just mix the bread by hand or with a spoon until it’s at the shaggy mass stage… not a finished dough at all. Leave it out on the kitchen counter overnight – and bake.
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VOCABULARY
Pounding (verb)
Repeatedly and heavily striking or hitting something.
Loaves (plural noun)
Plural of loaf: a quantity of bread that is shaped and baked in one piece and usually sliced before being eaten.
Frescoes (plural noun)
Plural of "fresco", a painting technique
Scarcity (noun)
A lack of something; when there's not enough of something.
Braiding (verb)
To divide something long into three parts and interlace them to make a braid.
To knead, kneading (verb)
To use the base of your hand to work the dough so it will grow more.
Shaggy (adjective)
Here: of uneven texture, looking rough
Mass (noun)
Here: dough
Counter (noun)
A work surface, usually used in kitchens and shops
Overnight (adverb)
During the whole night
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