2019 Kneading Conference

A look back at bread: how bread helped shape the modern world through centuries of social and political change, plus a peek behind the scenes at how the Modernist Cuisine team created the photos for Modernist Bread.
 
While we can trace the origins of bread back to prehistory, by the 1st century bread had evolved into something we would be familiar with today. Even ancient Rome had a famous baker, and excavations of Pompeii centuries after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius revealed actual loaves of bread and bakeries. Throughout the premodern and modern eras, grain was at the center of agricultural innovation and trade. For hundreds of years, grain (and specifically bread) has been a staple in the diets of people around the world. By researching the past, we were better able to understand how bread has impacted society, along with how bread itself has changed over time.