Scientists have revealed that humans have been enjoying multi-flavoured focaccias for more than 8000 years.
European researchers found “fully agricultural communities” in the current-day Middle East had developed complex culinary traditions during the Late Neolithic period, between 7000 and 5000 BCE.
Archaeologist Sergio Taranto, from the University La Sapienza in Rome said the traditions included the baking of large loaves of bread and “focaccias” with different flavours.
Dr Taranto said the bread was baked on special trays known to archaeologists as husking trays.
He said the husking trays were containers with a large oval base and low walls, made of coarse clay.
“They differed from common trays due to their internal surface, marked with rough impressions or incisions arranged repetitively and regularly.”
Dr Taranto said investigations suggested that large loaves made with water and flour might had been baked on these trays, placed in domed ovens for about two hours at an initial temperature of 420°C.
He said the grooves on the internal surface would have facilitated the removal of the bread once baked.
“The large size of the loaves, approximately 3 kg, suggested they were likely intended for communal consumption.”
Dr Taranto said the research team analyzed ceramic fragments of husking trays from between 6400 and 5900 BCE to identify their use as specialized containers for baking cereal-based doughs and whether these doughs could have been seasoned with products such as animal fat or vegetable oil.
He said the study, based on various types of analyses, provided clear evidence regarding both the uses of these artifacts and the nature of the foods processed in them.
“Our study offers a vivid picture of communities using the cereals they cultivated to prepare breads and ‘focaccias’ enriched with various ingredients and consumed in groups.
“The use of the husking trays we identified leads us to consider that this Late Neolithic culinary tradition developed over approximately six centuries and was practiced in a wide area of the Near East.”
Read the full study: Unveiling the culinary tradition of ‘focaccia’ in Late Neolithic Mesopotamia by way of the integration of use-wear, phytolith & organic-residue analyses.
