The History of Yeast Breads

The cooks of the Neolithic period are almost singlehandedly responsible for bringing yeast breads and beer into existence. Most of these early breads were unleavened, with variations on size, shape and even grains used from culture to culture.

We do know that the Egyptians were using yeast for bread and beer making by 4000 B.C., but we believe the discovery of yeast as a leavening agent happened entirely by accident. It’s likely that the world’s first barley crops came from the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia.

It’s also believed that bread making came before beer making. Neolithic cooks learned by chance that if they used grains that had been sprouted and dried, their bread tended to keep for longer periods. The concept was well known by the time we find evidence of the first beers. The Egyptians dried the grain, and then made it into dough that was partially baked. They would then soak that dough in water and allowed to ferment before the drink was considered palatable.

The Egyptians were also the first civilization to use a portable oven. They formed a beehive shaped object out of clay, which was divided into two parts. The top portion was where the bread was laid out for baking, while the bottom portion was reserved for the tinder. The Jews used an oven that had a similar shape, but theirs was made of polished stone instead of clay. This sturdy construction carried over to the home, where early Jewish people had standing stoves built into the main rooms of the home.

The Domestication of the Banana

Bananas are native to Southeast Asia, and most likely contributed to the healthy diets of hunter gatherers for thousands of years. It is one of the oldest crops humans have consumed on the planet. The wild banana, though, is full of seeds and looks unattractive. How it went from being a wild fruit to a domesticated crop is a matter still up for some debate.

What we speculate is that the wild banana may not have originally been useful as a foodstuff. The husk of the banana provided important fibers needed for clothing and building materials. It was the ancient people’s need to utilize every possible resource that led humans to consuming bananas as food. Simply put, we were probably too hungry not to try. 

“Banana” appears to have African origins. The fruit didn’t spread too far until the Islamic period of history, when the crop was brought to India and the Middle East through expansion and trade. The Romans new of it, but preferred the fig over the banana a hundred times over. 

The banana also has meaning in myth and symbolism. Many Africans link the banana to fertility, and the tree is highly prized for its relation to birth. Chinese legend talked of the banana maiden, who had a strange and not-all-too clear relation to a real-life young maiden in ancient China. The Indians used bananas to bless marriage ceremonies too.

Today’s crops are nothing like they used to be. The banana’s shape and taste has changed dramatically as it is produced en masse.

Classic Los Angeles Restaurants

Restaurants are a fleeting business, especially in Los Angeles. The city is already battling an image problem from its critics, namely that Los Angeles was the city without history. It seems like every day restaurants open and close in the blink of an eye, so it’s monumental when restaurants seem to survive over the years. Here are some classic eateries that you can’t afford to miss in Los Angeles.

Musso and Frank Grill

For almost 100 years, M&F’s have been serving up martini and steak dinners to Hollywood executives and stars. It’s a dimly-lit venue situated right on Hollywood Blvd. The menu still reflects the classic tastes of its era, and the mahogany bar still serves up stiff drinks.

Pacific Dining Car

The Pacific Dining Car has been a Hollywood eatery since 1921, where its meaty menu serves up such hits as Baseball or Cowboy Steak. They are also the only fine eating establishment that features a 24 hour serving time. They are also well-known for their egg heavy breakfast dishes.

Pink’s

Pink’s hasn’t been opened for quite as long as the other’s but it’s never the less a tradition in Los Angeles. Today, the restaurant still operates the same way it did in 1939, and it is still family-owned too. It all started as a food cart before it got celebrity endorsement and became a sensation.

Father’s Office

Founded in 1953, Father’s Office was one of the earliest restaurants to embrace craft beer. It is known also for its burger, which Esquire magazine dubbed the best burger in the world. It is now owned by Sang Yoon, a Korean chef famous for declaring absolutely no substitutions to be made on his food. Not even ketchup.

The History of Milk

Today, milk does a body good. We ask if you’ve “got it” and we can’t stop talking about the benefits it brings to our bones and body. Milk goes back to 10,000 BC during the agricultural revolution. Prehistoric hunters began capturing and holding animals far before they domesticated them. It was only after humans had settled, and animals began to show up on farms, that we see evidence of humans utilizing those byproducts.

Human breast milk provided an important source of sustenance for infant humans. It would sustain them throughout the first year of life, and it was also used as a health remedy for adults too. The knowledge of breast milk is most likely what led humans to milk cows and other animals first.

There are cave drawings from 5,000 BC in Libya that show ancient people milking their cattle and possibly making cheese. It’s likely that fresh milk didn’t last more than a few hours in the hot sun, but the heat and bacteria in the air may have led to the creation of yogurt and other milk byproducts.

Archaeologists have also uncovered evidence of jugs with small holes in them, which they believe were used to separate curds from whey. Egyptian paintings from the time show a more industrialized process. Cattle are lined up, and villagers milked them through the other side of the fence. Although it’s speculated that the source of that milk was either goats or sheep. It’s likely that cattle would have been worked to the bone, essentially crippling any ability it may have had to produce milk.