Curious About Bread

PODCAST 113: CURIOUS ABOUT BREAD

RELEASE DATE:  NOVEMBER 29TH, 2020

CURIOUS KID PODCAST THEME MUSIC

D:  HELLO, AND WELCOME BACK TO THE CURIOUS KID PODCAST.  THIS WEEK, WE ARE GETTING CURIOUS ABOUT A FOOD FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 41 EPISODES.  IT’S A FOOD THAT’S BEEN EATEN FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS AND IS EATEN BY PEOPLE ALL AROUND THE WORLD.  IT ALSO PAIRS WELL WITH THE LAST FOOD WE LEARNED ABOUT BACK IN FEBRUARY, WHICH WAS CHEESE.

O:  MAILBAG!

D:  MAILBAG!

“HELLO!  THIS IS SAVEAH (6) AND EVERETT (3) (AND THEIR MOM ASHLEE) FROM SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.  WE LOVE LISTENING TO YOUR PODCASTS ON ROADTRIPS AND NOW IN THE TIME OF DISTANCE LEARNING.  WE HAVEN’T HAD A CHANCE TO LISTEN TO THEM ALL YET, BUT SO ENJOY THEM EVERY TIME WE DO!  WE HAVE BEEN BAKING SOME BREAD WITH OUR EXTRA TIME AT HOME, AND SAVEAH HAS LOTS OF QUESTIONS ABOUT BREAD, YEAST, HOW IT RISES, AND ALSO ABOUT WATER (AS WE HAVE HAD TO LEARN ABOUT OUR CITY WATER AND ADDITIVES FOR BAKING SOURDOUGH).  KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND THANK YOU!

O:  THAT’S AN AMAZING E-MAIL FROM SAVEAH AND EVERETT.  I ALSO DID LOTS OF BAKING IN THE SPRING AND SUMMER WHEN I WAS STAYING AT HOME.  

D:  WE CAN’T WAIT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF BREAD, HOW IT’S MADE, AND SOME REALLY INTERESTING FACTS WE WERE ABLE TO UNCOVER ABOUT THE DELICIOUS FOOD.  WHAT’S THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK?

O:  THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK IS, HOW MANY POUNDS OF BREAD DOES THE AVERAGE AMERICAN EAT IN A YEAR?

D:  THIS IS A SNEAKY QUESTION.  BREAD SHOWS UP IN SO MANY DIFFERENT FOODS THAT’S IT HARD TO EVEN IMAGINE HOW MUCH BREAD WE CONSUME THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.  

O:  THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT PEOPLE WERE EATING BREAD 30,000 YEARS AGO.

D:  THAT’S BECAUSE STARCH RESIDUE WAS DISCOVERED ON ROCKS.  IT’S POSSIBLE THAT PEOPLE WOULD SPREAD STARCH EXTRACTED FROM PLANS ONTO FLAT ROCK AND PLACE IT OVER A FIRE TO CREATE SOMETHING THAT RESEMBLED FLATBREAD.  

O:  THE BREAD THAT WAS MADE THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO CONTAINED ONLY FLOUR AND WATER. 

D:  WITH THOSE 2 INGREDIENTS ALONE, THE BREAD CAN’T GROW SO YOU ARE LEFT WITH SOMETHING CALLED UNLEAVENED BREAD.  THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD THAT ARE STILL ENJOYED BY MILLIONS OF PEOPLE TODAY LIKE NAAN AND TORTILLAS.

O:  THE EGYPTIANS ADDED YEAST TO THE RECIPE, WHICH HELPED MAKE THE BREAD RISE.

D:  THIS RESULTED IN LEAVENED BREAD.  THE POSSIBILITIES FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF UNLEAVENED BREAD AND LEAVENED BREAD ARE ENDLESS.  LEAVENED BREAD CAN BE MADE INTO ROLLS, LOAVES, CHALLAH, AND MUCH MORE.  BREAD WAS SO IMPORTANT TO THE EGYPTIANS THAT THEY USED TO USE IT AS CURRENCY, THE SAME WAY WE USE MONEY TODAY.    

O:  I THINK WE ALL KNOW WHAT WATER IS, BUT LET’S LEARN MORE ABOUT FLOUR AND YEAST.

D:  GREAT IDEA.  FLOUR IS MADE WHEN YOU GRIND GRAINS.  THE PROCESS OF GRINDING GRAINS IS CALLED MILLING.  THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT GRAINS YOU CAN USE TO MAKE FLOUR INCLUDING CORN, RICE, RYE, AND WHEAT.  

O:  YEAST IS REALLY INTERESTING BECAUSE IT IS ALIVE.

D:  IT IS… YEAST IS ACTUALLY A MEMBER OF THE FUNGHI FAMILY.

O:  DOES THAT MEAN THAT IT’S RELATED TO MUSHROOMS?

D:  IT DOES… THEY ARE BOTH FUNGHI.  YEAST IS REFERRED TO AS A MICROORGANISM BECAUSE IT IS SO SMALL.  

O:  SO, HOW DOES YEAST MAKE BREAD RISE?

D:  WELL, YEAST WORKS BY EATING SUGAR AND TURNING IT INTO CARBON DIOXIDE AND ALCOHOL AS WASTE PRODUCTS.  THIS PROCESS IS CALLED FERMENTATION.  IT’S THE CARBON DIOXIDE THAT MAKES THE BREAD RISE.  IN ORDER TO PREVENT THE CARBON DIOXIDE FROM ESCAPING, GLUTEN IS USED.  

O:  GLUTEN IS A GROUP OF PROTEINS.  WHEN IT COMBINES WITH WATER IT GETS STRETCHY, LIKE BUBBLEGUM.  

D:  THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF BREAD OUT THERE THAT HAVE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT INGREDIENTS OR ARE PREPARED DIFFERENTLY.  OUR LISTENERS FROM SALT LAKE CITY MENTIONED SOURDOUGH BREAD IN THEIR E-MAIL.  WELL, SOURDOUGH BREAD USES LACTOBACILLI IN IT’S PREPARATION.  THAT’S A BACTERIA THAT MAKES SOMETHING CALLED LACTIC ACID, WHICH IS WHAT GIVES SOURDOUGH IT’S SOUR TASTE.  LET’S LEARN SOME RANDOM INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT BREAD.

O:  NAPOLEON IS RESPONSIBLE FOR NAMING A POPULAR TYPE OF BREAD. 

D:  NAPOLEON WAS A FRENCH LEADER IN THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY.  HE HAD A HORSE THAT HE LIKED TO FEED DARK RYE BREAD TO.  THE NAME OF HIS HORSE WAS NICOLE.  WHEN HE ORDERED THE BREAD, IN FRENCH, HE SAID “PAIN POUR NICOLE”, WHICH TRANSLATES TO “BREAD FOR NICOLE”.  THE PEOPLE TAKING HIS REQUESTS DIDN’T UNDERSTAND FRENCH, AND TO THEM, THE REQUEST SOUNDED LIKE PUMPERNICKEL.  OVER 200 YEARS LATER, THE BREAD STILL GOES BY THE NAME PUMPERNICKEL.  

O:  THE TERM BAKERS DOZEN ALSO HAS TO DO WITH BREAD.

D:  THAT’S RIGHT… A DOZEN REFERS TO 12 OF SOMETHING.  A BAKER’S DOZEN IS 13.  THERE IS A GOOD REASON FOR THIS.  BAKER’S IN THE UNITED KINGDOM WERE FINED FOR SELLING LOAVES OF BREAD THAT WEREN’T AT LEAST A CERTAIN WEIGHT.  IN ORDER TO AVOID FINES, IT WAS EASIER FOR THEM TO JUST THROW IN A 13TH LOAF OF BREAD WHEN SELLING A DOZEN.  THAT’S HOW THE BAKER’S DOZEN ORIGINATED.

O:  SLICED BREAD WAS INVENTED IN 1928.  UNTIL THEN, BREAD WAS SOLD UNSLICED.

D:  YOU MAY HAVE HEARD THE PHRASE “THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD”, OR MAYBE NOT.  I REMEMBER HEARING IT SAID MANY TIMES WHEN I WAS YOUNGER.  WELL, CHECK THIS OUT.  WHEN SLICED BREAD WAS INVENTED, IT WAS REFERRED TO AS THE BEST THING SINCE BAGGED BREAD.  SLICED BREAD WAS SO POPULAR, THAT WITHIN 5 YEARS OF THE INVENTION, 80% OF THE BREAD SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES WAS SLICED.    

O:  THE TERM UPPER CRUST ALSO COMES FROM BREAD.

D:  WHEN PEOPLE SAY “UPPER CRUST”, THEY ARE USUALLY USING THE TERM TO DESCRIBE SOMEONE WHO IS WEALTHY AND IN THE UPPER CLASS.  THE TERM UPPER CRUST DATES BACK TO THE 17TH CENTURY.  THE BREAD THAT WAS MADE IN STONE OVENS OFTEN HAD A BOTTOM CRUST THAT WAS DIRTY FROM STUFF LIKE ASH AND SOOT.  THE WEALTHY WOULD CUT THAT BOTTOM CRUST FROM THE BREAD AND EAT THE UPPER CRUST INSTEAD.  

O:  THERE IS A SUPERSTITION THAT IT’S BAD LUCK TO TURN A LOAF OF BREAD UPSIDE DOWN.

D:  THERE IS ALSO AN OLD WIVES TALE THAT EATING BREAD CRUST WILL MAKE YOUR HAIR CURLIER.  

O:  THE SANDWICH IS NAMED AFTER THE 4TH EARL OF SANDWICH.

D:  HIS NAME WAS JOHN MONTAGU.  THE EARL OF SANDWICH IS A BRITISH STATESMAN.  JOHN MONTAGU WAS THE 4TH EARL OF SANDWICH 250 YEARS AGO.  HE WASN’T VERY HIGHLY REGARDED, AS IT WAS SAID ABOUT HIM THAT “SELDOM HAS ANY MAN HELD SO MANY OFFICES AND ACCOMPLISHED SO LITTLE”.  OUCH!  HE DID HAVE ONE PRETTY BIG CONTRIBUTION THOUGH.

O:  HE USED TO ASK HIS SERVANTS TO GET HIM MEAT STUFFED IN BETWEEN 2 SLICES OF BREAD.

D:  AND THAT’S WHY WE STILL CALL THEM SANDWICHES TODAY.  ALRIGHT OLIVIA, LET’S GET TO THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK.  HOW MANY POUNDS OF BREAD DOES THE AVERAGE AMERICAN EAT IN A SINGLE YEAR?

O:  THE AVERAGE AMERICAN EATS 53 POUNDS OF BREAD A YEAR.

D:  THAT IS UNREAL.  WE REALLY LOVE BREAD.  WELL, THAT’S A WRAP FOR THIS WEEK’S EPISODE.

O:  EPISODE 113 - BREAD.

D:  GREAT JOB, OLIVIA, AND GREAT JOB SAVEAH AND EVERETT FOR THE FANTASTIC SUGGESTION.  IF THERE IS SOMETHING THAT YOU ARE CURIOUS ABOUT, LET US KNOW BY SENDING AN E-MAIL TO CURIOUSKIDPODCAST@GMAIL.COM OR BY LEAVING US A VOICEMAIL AT 856-425-2324.  THIS IS THE LAST REMINDER THAT WE ARE RAISING MONEY FOR NO KID HUNGRY THIS MONTH.  HELP US HELP THE GREAT FOLKS OVER AT NO KID HUNGRY.  YOU CAN CHIP IN BY CLICKING ON THE LINK IN THE SHOW NOTES TO GO DIRECTLY TO THEIR WEBSITE AND DONATE.  YOU CAN ALSO DONATE THROUGH THE CURIOUS KID PODCAST FACEBOOK PAGE.  THE CURIOUS KID PODCAST WILL ALSO DONATE $1 FOR EVERY APPLE PODCASTS REVIEW WE GET BEFORE THE END OF THE MONTH (JUST A FEW DAYS LEFT FOR THAT), AND WE WILL ALSO DONATE $1 FOR EVERY PATREON SUPPORTER WE HAVE AT THE END OF THIS MONTH.  YOU CAN FIND ALL OF THE LINKS YOU NEED IN OUR SHOW NOTES.  A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS HELPED US RAISE MONEY FOR THIS INCREDIBLE CAUSE ALREADY.  COME BACK NEXT WEEK WHEN WE GET CURIOUS ABOUT DRAGONS FOR A LISTENER IN CAMPBELL, CALIFORNIA.  AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING AND GETTING CURIOUS WITH US.