Dreaming Big
  • Home
    • Staff
    • Members Only
  • Contact
  • Our Books
    • Non Fiction
    • Fiction
    • Poetry
    • Children's Books
    • Audio Books
  • Coming Soon
  • Blog
  • Opportunities
    • Call For Submissions
    • Submissions Guidelines
    • FAQ
  • Gifts and More

Why Do We Bake Bread During Quarantine? by Andy Smiley

9/13/2020

0 Comments

 
​Why Do We Bake Bread During Quarantine?
By Andy Smiley
 
In the past few months, with everyone stuck at home, a new trend has emerged from the countless hours spent staring out the window and waiting: baking bread.
 
Bread is one of the oldest recipes that humans have created. According to History’s online article “A Brief History of Bread,” the widespread production of yeast is dated back to at least 300 BC, while other types of bread were made as early as 30,000 years ago. Bread has religious significance in the Abrahamic religions, and throughout history, bread has held ties to class, culture, and tradition. But none of this answers the central question in the casual observer’s mind: why are people suddenly deciding to bake bread?
 
The first answer is obvious: stress. The phenomenon of stress-baking is well documented. In times of trouble, lots of people like to work their nervous energy into mixing, measuring, and making something delicious. The sugary pastries produced in the process also serve as a comfort food. Fresh bread, with its specific scent and texture, has been known to do the same thing. Alongside the taste, the satisfaction of making something also helps to relieve stress.
 
The second reason is less readily apparent: perishability. Cooking a standard meal tends to reply on foods that can perish, like vegetables or meat. Even non-perishable foods become perishable once added to something else. But flour alone can sit for years without going bad, as can sugar, salt, and water. The only ingredient that requires maintenance is the yeast. Baked goods also tend to be eaten faster than large pots of leftover soup or other cooked meals, as there are any number of combinations of sugar and flour, and their shelf stability translates to fewer trips to the grocery store with less money spent there. Baking is assisted by both the newfound societal fear of crowded spaces and the drop in income many families are experiencing.
 
While these reasons explain why people began baking during quarantine, they leave out one of the most crucial ingredients in a well-baked loaf. For that, we turn to one of the most important resources the quarantine has provided for up-and-coming bakers: time.
 
Beginner bread loaves typically aren’t very complicated, so there isn’t a skill barrier, and the ingredients themselves aren’t difficult to acquire or prepare. But baking bread by hand, when properly done, requires a great deal of free time spent in the home. Even professional bakeries feel the pressure of the clock, coming in hours ahead of opening. In modern society, where one is expected to work for 40 or more hours per week on top of errands, appointments, social activities, and family life, there simply isn’t the time to be sitting at home for hours watching dough rise. Other baking circumvents this by using other ingredients and reactions to make the dough rise, but with leavened bread, it’s simply unavoidable. The only thing that can accommodate yeast is time. And in the absence of jobs, commutes, and other errands, time has made itself readily available to anyone who needs it.
 
Bread has been a staple of culture through every hardship humans as we know them have faced. Today, as in the past, it promises not to disappoint.
 
Edited by Ashley Ricks
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Challenge Participant
    Parajunkee Design
    I review for BookLook Bloggers
    Professional Reader
    Book Reviewer Sign Up

    1888PressRelease
    YA Bound Book Tours

Services

Ask A Therapist
Blog
Our Books
Coming Soon

Company

About Us
Staff
​

Support

Contact
FAQ

Find and follow us on social media 
© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.