The First Attempts To Make A Banana Bread Recipe
Posted by Ben Cook | Filed under Food & Beverage
Anyone who loves a good banana bread recipe will appreciate all of the evolution that brought it to us. Creating foods has been part of every culture since the Neanderthal. Of course, the more we know about a single food’s history the more we are likely to create a palette that coincides with the food’s original flavor as well as with today’s modern adjustments.
There is no actual record indicating that in such and such a year at such and such location the first banana bread recipe was designed, developed, and baked. Rather, we have to look at the evolution of the various ingredients that would eventually turn into what we now call the banana bread recipe.
If we look at the evolution of the basic banana bread recipe ingredients we can most likely gauge when the first actual recipe was handed down and where it was probably developed. All banana bread recipes are quick bread recipes. This simply means that there is no yeast used for rising in the baking process.
These early breads were made from a crushed grain that was blended with some water before it was baked on hot stones. It is thought that the first banana bread recipe followed this general outline of bread baking, with the mushed bananas mixed in for a little bit of addition to the taste. While still not the banana bread recipe we love today, it is closer to a resemblance.
The face of bread was changed by the Egyptians. There is evidence that the Egyptians were able to lighten the bread and give it a less dense taste when they realized that the dough made from wheat could ferment. The fermentation process produced gas that created lighter bread. This is believed to have occurred about 4, 000 BC.
It is quite likely that after the discovery of fermentation of wheat dough that the process continued in Greece, where the first banana bread recipe came to life. It was a Greek philosopher that described the banana plant thoroughly in the first botany book. This meant that the Greeks had bananas and they were also experimenting with their breads at this time.
The banana bread recipes we know today have been significantly altered from the original breads that were made from what we now know and eat today. One of the most significant improvements to the bread included leavening. Instead of fermenting wheat dough, adding water and mashed bananas to cook quickly on hot stones, adding lightness to the bread would improve its taste and desirability
Eventually these first banana bread recipe attempts would grow into what we now lovingly call banana bread through the addition of a leavening agent. In this case, the leavening agent is baking powder. This single ingredient can give the loaf just enough power to rise without turning it into a yeast bread. Baking powder was brought to the United States in’75. This addition to the ingredients gives credence to the claim that the first banana bread recipe was developed in’th century America.
If you want to learn how to make lots of delicious types of banana bread in your home kitchen, try these banana bread recipes from Ben Cook. Ben recommends thisblueberry banana bread recipe to begin with.
Tags: banana, banana bread, cooking, food, Food & Beverage, Home, nutrition
