The history of bread is as old as civilization. Egyptians made bread from the early in their history. From the beginning of life on our planet, people ate their cereals raw. Later, they learnt to roast them.
The first flour had no resemblance to the flour we use today. Flour was simply roasted or dried and seeds which were pounded between two smooth surfaces. Later, they learned to mix this primitive flour with water to prepare the first slurries (χυλούς) that are the true forerunners of bread today. Then, they learned to make a thick batter that was baked directly on the fire laying this mixture down onto hot stones. The first vessels used were clay pans.
Herodotus mentions that in ancient Egypt, bread is kneaded with the feet, which continued until the beginning of this century in many parts of Greece and Europe. The first organized bakeries appeared in Rome during the reign of Trajan from 97 to 117 AD. In ancient Greece, the bread was baked and in homes. Bakeries appeared in the 2nd century AD. Among the many types of bread manufactured in ancient Greece were a sour dough (ζυμίτης) from flour, also an unleavened bread from thick flour very much like semolina, which was called (σιμιγδαλίτης), hence the word for semolina in Greek; simigdali was made from fine flour derived from good quality wheat.
From ancient texts we learn that the Greeks gave bread to the gods, calling it theiagonous (θειαγόνους) bread (born from the gods). In the temple of Demeter at Eleusis, on the feast of Thesmophoria, bread was offered to the great goddess. The festival was called megalartia.
In a prayer given by Jesus Christ, there is a request for the daily bread. At the Last Supper Jesus blessed the bread and the likeness of his body. The devotion of the people towards the daily bread that is never discarded shows its importance in daily religious life. Bread today plays a very important role in the Greek Orthodox faith. With every communion, we receive the body of Christ – a piece of bread, that we solemnly eat. There are bits of bread placed in the communion itself. Tsoureki at Easter is often referred to as Easter bread.
In past times they sowed wheat, barley and other cereals used as feed. But the wheat covered the needs of each family. They would have it ground in the mills, which now no longer exist, and then the women would kneaded the bread and baked in the oven of a house for the family’s needs. In each area they made especial pastries.
Today, Greece has commercial bakeries and in my opinion makes some of the best bread in Europe. In every city and every village, there’s always a bakery to supply the Hellenes with daily bread. It becomes the centre piece of every meal. In Greece, it’s common to see vendors selling koulouria – round circles of bread covered in sesame, as either a lunchtime treat or a substantial snack or a last minute breakfast option. Koulouria to Athenians is what bagels are to New Yorkers.