Neill's Flour - flour, bread mixes and recipes

Egyptians

Bread has been one of the principal forms of food since early times and bread baking can be traced back to the ancient Egyptians in 2600-2100 BC. In the British Museum in the Egyptian galleries you can see actual loaves which were made and baked over 5000 years ago.

The Greeks and Romans

The ancient Greeks and Romans baked bread and it formed part of their staple diet. The ruins of Pompeii and other sites have revealed that bakeries existed in these times where poorer people brought their bread to be baked or from where they could buy ready-baked bread. The Romans and the Greeks liked their bread white and bread was tested on the basis of the colour and in Rome the first bakers guilds were formed. During this period the art of baking became a respected profession so much so that in the time of Christ there were about three hundred Bakers around Rome.

The Middle Ages

Baking spread from the Roman Empire throughout Europe and the rest of the world. The Saxons and Danes invaded Britain and introduced rye and dark rye became a staple part of the diet. It was during the middle ages that it became common for each landlord to have a bakery which was a public oven. In1202 King John introduced the first laws governing the price of bread and the permitted profit. The Great Fire of London in 1666 was said to have been started by a baker and totally destroyed the milling and baking industry in the capital.

Modern Times

The first bread slicing machine was exhibited at a bakery trade fair in America and sliced bread appeared in Britain and by 1933 around 80% of bread sold in the US was pre-sliced which led to the expression "the best thing since sliced bread"