Bread and Civilization

Join us for a talk by Nick Malgieri, former Executive Pastry Chef at Windows on the World and the author of BREAD and ten other cookbooks, including the James Beard winner How to Bake. The preparation of bread and the cultivation of wheat necessary for its production are pivotal events that contributed to early humans' abandoning a nomadic existence and settling in towns. The history of bread stems from the simultaneous development of wheat cultivation, of both natural and beer-derived yeast, and of the tools and ovens necessary for baking. Today's crusty baguettes may seem to have little in common with ancient unleavened flatbreads, but both are deeply rooted in humanity's instinctive need for bread.