Bread as a metaphor

[jwnorris]

I have just finished Brother Juniper's Bread Book by Peter Reinhart, and this line hit home and I thought I would share it.

"To participate in breadmaking is, in itself, a opportunity (not always taken) towards multidimensionality."

J W

[james]

Re: Bread as a metaphor

Hey JW,

Very nice. Bread also connects us to our common history. We've spend the past couple of days in the Louvre, and I found some great pictures and sculptures of bread and ovens from both ancient Egypt and Greece.

Here are pictures of a baker kneading bread and a loaf of Egyptian bread. They were nice enough to enclose items of daily life in their tombs, so we did not need to have a remarkable event , such as a volcano, to capture their history. I can relate to the hand mixing. The loaf was risen, and it's a triangluar shape.

These are about 3,500 years old. Next up, the Greek bakers.
James

[james]

Re: Bread as a metaphor

I really get a kick out of these. This is a Greek oven and a terracotta sculpture of the bakers making their loaves. The oven seems to be metal, with a fire below -- like a modern French oven. You can see the spot below where they had the fire.

The bread is pretty flat in the oven photo -- perhaps it's an early pizza. There are two on the tray and one in the oven.

The second photo shows the baker making what look like perfect baguettes. There is a flute player on one site -- keeking them happy while they make their daily bread.

These are about 2,300 years old. Sometimes it seems like there is nothing new under the sun (other than the Internet).

Hope you enjoy these.
James