This 5,000 year old bread recipe, gets recreated in Turkey

Since ages, breads have been one of the most consumed staples all around the world. From shortage of breads after World War I and II to some of the most unnerving food crises in world history, fights and unity over breads have been beyond words. Interestingly, during an excavation process, archaeological scientists and their team came across an ancient bread, which was found charred, The bread was charred and buried under the entrance of a dwelling built around 3,300 BC.Eskişehir, in Turkey,

How was it found
Breads and their taste, texture, flavour and preferences that may naturally help in improving health and wellness. During an excavation in central Turkey, the bread was found in a charred condition, and this was buried under the entrance of a residential dwelling, somewhere around 3,300 BC in Eskişehir.

All about this black bread
The culinary tradition of Turkey revolves around their old traditions. In fact, in the early Bronze Age, a piece of bread was buried beneath the threshold of a newly built house in and around central Turkey. Recently, the archaeologists have found a 5000 year old bread, and gave this recipe to a local bakery to recreate it and this has led to an increased demand for this culinary recreation after ages.

The ancient bread
According to media reports published in a digital daily, it was mentioned that the bread was round and flat like a pancake, and had a diameter of 12 centimetres (five inches) during the excavations at Kulluoba, a site near the central Anatolian city of Eskisehir.

As per the lead archaeologist and director of the excavation,Murat Turkteki,
“This is the oldest baked bread to have come to light during an excavation, and it has largely been able to preserve its shape." He further said that this "Bread is a rare find during an excavation. Usually, you only find crumbs," "But here, it was preserved because it had been burnt and buried," told AFP.

The unique way of storing
The discovery of this bread left the researchers amazed, this is because the bread was found in a charred condition, buried under the entrance of a dwelling built around 3,300 BC. What's more, it was also found that a piece of the bread had been torn off, before the bread was burnt, then buried when the house was built, it was believed to be a part of the ancient traditions. "It makes us think of a ritual of abundance," Mr Turkteki said.

More about the findings
This bread was discovered back in September 2024, and the charred bread has been on display at the Eskisehir Archaeological Museum since Wednesday. According to the Mayor of the city, Ayse Unluce: "We were very moved by this discovery. Talking to our excavation director, I wondered if we could reproduce this bread.” It was found that the bread was made with coarsely ground emmer flour, an ancient variety of wheat, and lentil seeds, with the leaf of an as yet undetermined plant used as yeast. However, the ancient emmer seeds no longer exist in Turkey. To get as close as possible to the original recipe, the municipality, after analysing the ancient bread, decided to use Kavilca wheat, a variety that is close to ancient emmer, as well as bulgur and lentils.


A rage among customers
As per another International daily, it was mentioned that the bread has created a massive demand, which is being addressed by the Halk Ekmek bakery, which means the "People's Bread" in Turkish. This idea and recreation of bread is promoted by the municipality to offer low-cost bread, and employees have been shaping 300 loaves of Kulluoba by hand every day."The combination of ancestral wheat flour, lentils and bulgur results in a rich, satiating, low-gluten, preservative-free bread," said Serap Guler, the bakery's manager. The first Kulluoba loaves, marketed as 300-gramme (11-ounce) cakes that cost 50 Turkish lira (around $1.28), sold out within hours. One of the customers told a digital daily that "I rushed because I was afraid there wouldn't be any left. I'm curious about the taste of this ancient bread.”

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