BREADS

Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough made from flour, water, and a swelling agent and then baked. Throughout recorded history, it has been an important human-made food in many parts of the world and it plays an essential role in religious and secular culture.  

Bread is one of the oldest prepared foods.  Evidence from 30.000 years ago in Europe and Australia revealed starch residues on rocks for pounding plants.  It is possible that during this period, starch was extracted from seeds, mixed with water, and placed over fire, to produce the first primitive flatbread. Apparently, the oldest bread making has been found in a 14.500-year-old site in Jordan.

The first way of making yeast was by leaving uncooked dough for some time before cooking.  The Gauls and Iberians used the foam of beer, called barm, to produce barm cake.  Parts of the ancient world, who drank wine instead of beer, used a paste of grape juice and flour which was allowed to, ferment before baking.

The most common source of leavening was by retaining pieces of dough from the previous day to use as a sourdough starter.  

Here are a few recipes for preparing bread:

                     

                                            FOGATSA FROM CORFU

8-10 cups of plain flour

500 ml (2 cups) milk

1 ½ cup of sugar

250 ml (1 cup) melted butter

2 ½ cubes of fresh yeast

4 egg yolks

2 vanillas

1 tsp grated orange zest

3 tbsp kumquat marmalade

1 liqueur glass kumquat liqueur

 

Preheat oven to180 C (350 F).  Heat the milk and pour it into a bowl add the yeast, cut in pieces. Stir in the butter and half of the sugar and mix well together.  Cover with cling film and a small blanket for about half an hour until it doubles in bulk.

 

In a large bowl whip the three yolks with the remaining sugar and the vanilla.  Add the kumquat marmalade, liqueur, and melted butter. Combine the yeast and egg mixtures and knead the dough adding enough flour, úntil it becomes soft but firm.  Cover the dough with cling film and a small blanket and allow to prove until doubled in bulk.

 

Cut the dough in half and shape two loaves.  Place them in a tin lined with butter baking parchment, brush with remaining egg yolk  and bake for about 1 hour until puffed and golden  Serve with kumquat marmalade.

 

 

                                       CEPHALONIAN KOULOURIA

Here is the recipe for Greek koulouria:

250 ml (1 cup) warm water

30 g (1 oz)  dry yeast

60 g (2 oz) sugar

2 tsp olive oil

500 g (2 cups) plain flour sifted with

½ tsp ginger

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp grated nutmeg

Salt to taste

1 egg yolk mixed with

1 tbsp water

Sesame seeds

 

Place the water, yeast, and sugar, in a bowl, and whip with a hand mixer until the sugar and yeast dissolve,  Add the olive oil, flour, ginger, cinnamon, grated nutmeg and salt and whip for 4 minutes until a soft, pliable dough is formed.

 

Cover the bowl with cling film and a small blanket until it doubles in bulk.  Place the dough on a floured working surface and knead for 3-4 minutes.  Shape fine cylinders with the dough and cut them into equal pieces.  Shape each piece into rounds sealing the end together with a little water and pressing with your fingers to seal well together. 

 

Place the koulouria in a tin, lined with baking parchment, brush with egg white, sprinkle with  sesame seeds and bake for 15-20 minutes until crisp and golden.

 

 

                                 BREAD WITH ONIONS, OLIVES AND FETA

500 g (1 lb) plain flour

8-10 tsp dried yeast

½ tsp salt

2 medium-sized onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 tsp honey diluted in

250 ml (1 cup) warm water

1 cup stuffed olives, sliced

1 cup feta, crumbled and separated

 

In a large, warm bowl mix flour and yeast.  Then add the onions, salt, half the amount of cheese, and mix well together.  Add the honey and water mixture and knead vigorously until the dough becomes soft and elastic. 

 

Place the dough in a warm bowl and cover with a plastic bag and a small blanket and allow to rise until doubled in bulk, 30-40 minutes.  Shape two loaves cover and allow to prove until doubled in bulk.  Slash the loaves with a sharp knife, brush with olive oil and bake in an oven preheated tom180 C (350 F) until crisp and golden

 

 

                                                 CURRENT BREAD

This is a delicious bread that resembles a cake.

125 ml (½ cup) sunflower oil

300 g (1 ½ cup) sugar

An ample pinch of salt

Thickly grated zest of two oranges

625 ml (2 ½ cups) orange juice

 

600 g (1 lb 10 oz) self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp grated nutmeg

½ tsp cloves

(Mix everything well together)

300 g (10 oz) currents dusted with

2 tbsp of the flour mixture

 

Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) and whip the oil with the sugar, salt, orange zest, and juice, until sugar dissolves.  Add the flour mixture gradually until well combined. Finally, gently fold in the currents.

 

Scrape the batter into a round 30 cm (15 inch) baking tin, lined with oiled parchment, and bake for 45 minutes until thoroughly baked and golden.  Cool before serving.     

 

We prepare bread from scratch, but here is another version:

 

 

 

 

 

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