Food: A Cultural Culinary History

Lecture 26: Eating in the Early Industrial Revolution

to enjoy working and become satisfi ed with our accomplishments is

uniquely human.

The Importance of Bread and Potatoes

 Bread was a gritty affair made with stone-ground fl our. Yeasts were

unpredictable and often sour, and wood-burning ovens made odd,

misshapen loaves sometimes with crusty, dark exteriors. Bread

went stale after a day or two. Maybe most importantly, it differed

from place to place and even from one baker to another.

 In the industrial era, a new fl our-milling technique was developed

that could squash the grains under intense pressure between two

metal rollers. The fl our got heated up a bit, and some nutrients were

lost, but it became cheaper.

 In most people’s minds, whiter meant better, and it had always been

only the wealthy who could afford pure white bread. The incentive

to produce more bread quicker meant that manufacturers had great

Bread is one of the most basic foods in many different cultures.

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