Brasserie Bread - Artisan baking, leavened, starter, ferment, organic, yeast, sourdough, natural fermentation, bread, craftsman, recipe

The first group of people to bake bread were the ancient Egyptians, in 8000 BC. Traditional Sourdough baking originated in Europe during the Middle Ages where it was common for the landowning aristocrats to have a communal oven. For centuries peasant families (usually the woman was in charge of bread making) would bake on a fixed weekly schedule. The Starter was saved from the previous week's dough. The Starter was mixed with the new ingredients, the dough was left to rise, then a piece of it was saved (to be the Starter for next week's bread). The rest was formed into loaves which were marked with the family sign (this is where today's decorative Slashing of bread loaves originates from), and taken to the communal oven to bake.

These communal ovens evolved into what we know today as bakeries, producing bread for everybody in the village. As time went on, the bakers developed some very inventive "tricks" to start baking and selling their own bread using the landlord's oven. This lead to the famous regulation known as Assize of Bread and Ale, which handed-out harsh punishment for bakers who were found cheating. In response, bakers commonly threw in one more loaf of bread; this tradition now exists in the phrase "baker's dozen", which is thirteen.

Today bakers can be found working in Artisan Bakeries, Small Independent Bakeries, Chain & Franchise Stores, and Large Factories.

Small Independent Bakeries - these are largely family-run businesses often specializing in a particular style of bread or pastry. In Australia many such businesses are owned by members of the Vietnamese community.

Chain and Franchise Stores - recent years have seen the rise of chain stores (supermarkets) and franchise outlets selling the same range of products. Bakers in these stores bake according to a pre-determined recipe book and operation manual.

Large Factories - these produce baked products which are distributed to numerous selling points throughout a region including supermarkets, convenience stores, and the like. Bakers in these environments are largely there for quality control as machines take care of the labour intensive aspect of the job. By examining the listed contents of breads produced in large factories one almost invariably sees a substantial content of corn syrup (usually high-fructose kind) or honey resulting in sweet tasting bread.