Taranto et al / Scientific Reports
The study authors created replica “shelling trays” and produced their version of Neolithic foccacia
Apparently, focaccia wasn’t invented in Italy. A new study suggests that Neolithic communities living in the Middle East experimented with recipes and baked large flatbreads between 7,000 and 5,000 B.C.
Focaccia, with its flaky crust and rich olive oil flavor, is a much-loved staple – but how far back does the history of this delicious bread go?
Although experts know that this type of soft, flat breadusually covered with coarse salt, olive oil and rosemary, was made in ancient Rome, new research suggests that its origins may be even older.
According to , whose results were presented in an article recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, Neolithic communities already produced their own focaccia bread between 7,000 and 5,000 BC.
“The study of past eating behaviors can provide valuable information about the social and cultural aspects of ancient populations”, he explains. Sergio Tarantoarchaeologist at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and first author of the study, at .
“This is particularly useful for studying prehistoric communities about which we have limited knowledge due to the lack of written records”, explains the researcher.
To learn more about early cooking practices and eating habits, researchers studied oval-shaped clay containers known as “peeling trays“, says .
These trays were found in lplaces in the Fertile Crescentin the Middle East, including Mezraa Teleilat, Akarçay Tepe and Tell Sabi Abyad. After analyzing fossilized residue glued to the artifacts, the team discovered that bread was made by mixing wheat or barley with water.
Based on how the trays degraded, the researchers think the loaves were cooked for about two hours — longer than the currently recommended 20 to 30 minutes — in a vaulted oven at a scalding initial temperature of 420°C.
The researchers also identified traces of animal fat and herbal seasonings. “The variation in organic materials found in the fragments suggests that Neolithic communities tried several recipes“, says Taranto.
Peeling trays are made from thick clay. They have low walls and a long oval base with a series of grooves inside. Scientists have previously created replicas of these boards to learn more about how they were used, and they think the grooves made it easy to remove the bread the trays so that it doesn’t stick to the pan.
“The new study confirms that the impressions inside these trays were intended to make it easier to remove the focaccia from the container after it was cooked — in practice, a old non-stick technologysimilar to our modern frying pans,” says Taranto.
Some of the larger trays in the study could produce loaves that weighed nearly 3 kg, suggesting that bakers would make bread for many people savor together.
“Our study offers a vivid picture of the communities that used the cereals they grew to prepare breads and ‘focaccias’ enriched with various ingredients and consumed as a group,” says Taranto in a statement published on .
“The use of the peeling trays we identified leads us to consider that this late Neolithic culinary tradition developed over around six centuries and was practiced over a vast area of the Near East“, concludes Taranto.
