The Scrivener: White Or Brown
…Some of us who were raised in England in the 1940s knew only two types of bread: white and brown. Standard white loaves, buns and rolls were made by the local bakers. If you didn't like the crust, you were told you must eat it because it would make your hair curly. Well, it worked in my case…
In this tasty slice of prose Brian Barratt informs us that bread has been made for well over 10,000 years.
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1,000 years ago in England, the master of the house was known as the hlafweard and his goodwife was the hlæfdige. Hlaf and hlæf meant loaf, a loaf of bread. The male head of the household and estate was the loaf-ward or keeper of the bread. His wife was the loaf-kneader.
Over the centuries, the way these words were spoken gradually changed and they were shortened until they eventually became lord and lady. Thus the lord and lady were the providers of food to their servants, labourers, underlings and serfs, who did not plead 'Give us this day our daily bread' only when they were in church.
Researchers tell us that bread has been made for well over 10,000 years. Various types of grains including acorns and wild nuts were used in the earliest times. The original forms would not be been loaves but were probably coarse cakes or flatbread cooked on hot stones or in the ashes of a fire. It seems that the ancient Egyptians discovered that wheat dough can ferment and rise and thus be used for baking loaves of a lighter consistency.
Some of us who were raised in England in the 1940s knew only two types of bread: white and brown. Standard white loaves, buns and rolls were made by the local bakers. If you didn't like the crust, you were told you must eat it because it would make your hair curly. Well, it worked in my case. The brown bread I was most familiar with — and was obliged to eat because it was 'good for you' — was known simply as Hovis. I believe Hovis breads, in a much wider range, are still available.
Our old friend William Shakespeare mentions bread about 25 times in his plays. In 'Measure for Measure' we find 'he would mouth with a beggar though she smelt brown bread and garlic'. In other words, he would kiss her even though she had smelly breath. A 'bread-chipper' was a lowly servant who cut off the crust from bread. There is also an oath, 'God's bread!', a reference to the bread used in the church service of Holy Communion.
Shakespeare mentions the 'pantler', a servant who was in charge of the household bread. You can see the Latin origin of this word in panis, meaning bread. It's also in 'pantry', which originally meant 'bread room'. In her remarkable 'Book of Household Management' (1861) Mrs Beeton refers to 'panification', the art of bread-making. The word seems to have been coined in the late 1700s to replace 'panifice'.
Thank goodness panification is alive and well in the 21st century. At our small local shopping centre, you can buy so many different kinds of bread including: Cape seed; 9-grain; Chia seed; Low GI white; pane di casa; ciabatta; pasta dura; focaccia; pumpkin seed; Hungarian parmesan; and more. That's just at the hot bread bakeries. More are available, sliced and wrapped, at the supermarket.
We are very fortunate. And that is a good reason to remember that there are millions of people around the world who don't have a choice of white or brown, or enough sadza (maize or cornmeal porridge), or sufficient rice to feed the family. When they plead 'Give us this day our daily bread', they really mean it.
© Copyright Brian Barratt 2011
