|
 Cereals are essential for baking bread in the first place. The composition of the bread, as well as the use of a particular grain, depends on the traditions of specific localities, the type and variety of bread and the taste preferences of the population.
Barley.
This is the earliest ripening and cold-resistant grain crop, which grows even in the Arctic and in the mountains at an altitude of up to 5000 m above sea level. All cultivated varieties of barley are combined into two types - two-row barley and four-row barley (regular or multi-row).
The transformation of barley into culture began over 10 thousand years ago in Mesopotamia. The variety of forms of this cereal indicates that it should be attributed to the oldest grain crops, if it is not at all the oldest cultivated plant. Barley bread in its qualities it is inferior to wheat and rye, since it contains proteins that are poorly digested by the human body. It also crumbles and hardens quickly due to the low gluten content of the grain. But barley flour, pearl barley and barley groats are popular in many countries. A variety of soups, sauces and puddings are made from them.
Rye.
This culture is characterized by the highest winter hardiness and unpretentiousness to soils among all cereals. Unlike barley and wheat, rye is a secondary cultivated plant. The fact that they began to grow it, rye owes its wild ancestors, which grew like weeds in places where wheat and barley were planted. Thanks to this origin, rye has still preserved its resistance to diseases and pests, as well as unpretentiousness to growing conditions.
Grain entered the culture about 4 thousand years ago in the Transcaucasian region. This territory is part of the Southwest Asian center, from which about 14% of cultivated plants originate. By the way, soft wheat, barley and some other cereals originated from the same center. All existing forms and varieties of rye are combined into one cultural species - sowing rye. Bread made from rye flour, is always black. It is much healthier than wheat, contains more vitamins and amino acids, and does not stale for a long time.
Oats.
Oats, like rye, are also a secondary cultivated plant with high vitality, but the best yields are obtained in humid areas.
Comes from China and Mongolia. In total, about 20% of cultivated plants originated from the East Asian center. In Europe, oats first appeared in the Bronze Age. As is known from the writings of Pliny, the ancient Germanic tribes used this culture for making cereals and baking bread. Of all the members of the genus, the most important today is sowing oats, which are grown mainly in the temperate regions of Europe and North America.
Oat grains contain fats, proteins, sugar, organic acids, and a lot of starch. They are used to make oat groats, oatmeal, flakes, biscuits and other high-calorie products. Food products from cereals and flour of this plant are easily digestible, and therefore they are recommended for baby and diet food. This has long been appreciated by the British, who eat breakfast every morning. oatmeal... And cereal flakes are given to children so that they have a lot of strength, it is not for nothing that such flakes were even named after the ancient Greek hero Hercules. But today oats are not widely used for baking bread.
Figure:
Rice is an old grain crop with a high demand for heat and moisture, which is why it is called "the son of water and sun". This plant occupies a special, aristocratic position among cereals, since it feeds more than 60% of the world's population, and products from it have the highest calorie content.Rice is the main food plant in the tropical zone, where large areas are flooded for a long time after monsoon rains. The most common cultivated type of rice is sowing rice, which is grown in two forms: plain (flooded) and mountain (non-flooded).
This grain crop was cultivated by the peoples of China and India 7 thousand years ago. It comes from the South Asian tropical center, which gave the world about 50% of cultivated plants. The first Europeans to taste rice, probably, were the warriors of the great commander Alexander the Great (356 - 323 BC), during their aggressive campaigns against the Asian states. Rice grains contain valuable proteins that are absent in other cereals, as well as fats and about 70% starch. The casings of unrefined rice contain vitamin B1, the lack of which leads to the disease take - take. Due to its low gluten content grain of rice most varieties are not suitable for baking bread. Therefore, in China and Japan, special varieties were created, the fruits of which are used for the manufacture of mealy, cereals and confectionery products with valuable taste and dietary properties.
Corn or maize.
The third most important grain crop after wheat and rice. It is a warm, moisture, light-loving, and, at the same time, hardy and frost-resistant crop, which gives large grain yields. Depending on the properties of the grain, corn is subdivided into groups: fine-grained (corn that bursts), tooth-like, flint, sugar, starchy and others. All these groups and varieties of corn are combined into one species, which is spelled in Latin as Zea mays. But wild corn, from which cultural forms could arise, does not exist in nature now. The corn crop, unlike other cereals, is of non-Asian origin. It comes from the Central American Center, the flora of which significantly influenced the formation of civilizations in pre-Columbian America. More than 10 thousand years ago, corn began to grow tribes of the Indians who lived in the territories of modern Mexico and Peru - this is one of the oldest grain crops. It was brought to Europe by the sailors of Columbus; they first saw it in 1492 on the island of Cuba.
The locals had special techniques for growing corn, borrowed from the Incas. For example, women and children collected fish thrown by the waves on the shore of the ocean and during sowing they put grain and a fish head in each hole. As a result, very large grains grew.
Today corn is consumed in a variety of forms. Young cobs are eaten boiled, canned grains are put in salads, light breakfasts are made from cereals, but porridge and hominy are still nourishing. Using modern processing methods, they prepare such unusual products for us as flips, tortilla, cornflakes, popcorn and others. But baking loose bread from corn flour does not allow the absence of that very gluten in its kernels. However, in some countries, corn bread is used by mixing corn flour with flour from other cereals.
Millet.
A drought-resistant grain crop, which is distributed mainly in the tropics and subtropics. The genus Millet includes more than 400 species and millet is of great importance. This plant comes from the dry regions of India, which are one of the centers of the East Asian center of various cultivated plants.
Subsequently, millet ended up in ancient China, where the people included it in the list of five sacred plants. Rice, wheat, barley and soy were already on the list. The ancient Germans and Slavs also gave great honor to millet. In Ukraine, millet has been known since the times of the Trypillian culture. Millet is a nutritious food that contains more protein than rice and barley grains. Millet is eaten in the form of cereals, which are called millet. This word is derived from the ancient word "shove", which means to crush. This name indicates that in ancient times the grain was not milled, but pounded in a mortar.Currently, a crumbly aromatic porridge is prepared from millet, and cakes and bread are baked from flour.
T.A. Golub
|
