Some authorities believe leavening took place in the 7th century BC, when the slave of an Athenian magistrate made leavened bread by accident. He left some wheat dough in an earthenware pan and forgot all about it. When he found it, several days later, it had soured, and his impulse was to discard it, but his master was approaching, so he hastily mixed it with some fresh dough he had in reserve. Later, the slave was summoned to the archon, who was pleased by the bread, and he confessed what had happened. The story quickly spread all over Athens, and soon the art of making "Athenian bread" was heralded throughout Greece.
Today, Russia consumes more bread than any other country, more than a pound (500 g) of bread (khleb) a day being the national average (in rural areas the amount is probably even higher), although the consumption has declined slightly in recent years. About 200 kinds of bread are made today in Russia, 130 in Moscow's central bakeries alone. There are black breads and white breads, made of wheat, barley, rye and corn flour and the flour of several other cereal grains. There are even about 20 different kinds of dietetic bread.
The idea that "bread is the staff of life" comes from an English saying that has been traced to 1638, but it's probably older. In recent times, the chief money earner in a family has been called the breadwinner; the economic depression of the 1930s produced breadlines, and in the 1960s bread found a place in the hippie vocabulary as a synonym for money. 2. (v.) to coat a food, such as vegetables, fish or chicken strips, with flour, beaten eggs and bread crumbs or cracker crumbs before cooking.
From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
