Without doubt, in the 21st century, baking bread seems challenging enough; however, for Seamus Blackley, a physicist, video game designer, and a serious bread nerd, bread baking is a whole new world and he took bread baking to the next level.
According to what he shared on Twitter, he managed to collect dormant yeast from ancient Egyptian pots and reactivated it. He did this by using grains similar to the ones used thousands of years ago.
Then, he used the yeast to make delicious bread.
Tasty Bread Made with 4500-Year-Old Yeast
But, this effort wasn’t easy and it required time and help of the Egyptologist Serena Love and Richard Bowman, a microbiologist.
In a Twitter thread, Blackley explains that he used a non-destructive process and a cautious sterile method to capture dormant yeast and bacteria from the pores of ancient pots.
He tried to maintain the ingredients as similar as possible to the ones that were used 4,500 years ago. However, eventually, he needed to switch to 21st century tech for the baking process; but it all worked out well.
The ancient dough fermented and rose amazingly and he shared a photo of it in a basket before being transferred in a baking sheet. Even though ancient Egyptians didn’t bake bread like this, he claims he wanted to go conventional.
How Did the Ancient Bread Taste?
After baking it, he let it cool down and tasted it. He claims the aroma was wonderful and new and that it tasted richer than the sourdough we’re used to. He claims there’s a huge difference in taste!
He also shared some other photos of the inside of the bread- the crumb is light and airy and that one can easily see a difference, even though you may not be a bread expert.
Even though we can’t know about how this ancient bread tastes, from the photos, it definitely looks and feels amazing.
Sources:
