Baking was a popular profession and source of food in ancient Rome. Many ancient Roman baking techniques were developed due to Greek bakers who traveled to Rome following the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC). Ancient Roman bakers could make large quantities of money. This may have contributed to receiving a negative reputation. Bakers used tools such as the fornax, testum, thermospodium, and the clibanus to make bread. Most Roman breads were made using sourdough. The most common way to leaven bread was using flour mixed with grain.
History
The Romans had eaten porridge and baked bread for around six hundred years after the founding of Rome. In 171 BC, during the Third Macedonian War, the arrival of Greek bakers established the first professional bakers, known as the pistores, in Rome. It was in ancient Rome where bread and pastries first began to be mass produced.
Process
Dr. Joan Frayn conducted archaeological research in Britain. She identified five different kinds of Roman baking. These types included baking in the ashes, baking surrounding hot ashes, the sub testu method, and baking in earthenware vessels. The most basic method of baking was cooking in ashes. The hot ashes and tiles were used to heat the bread. The sub testu method involved baking bread underneath a hot cover or hot coals. These baking covers are typically ceramics with pie-shaped lids and foot-long sides. Although none of the examples have handles or holes at the top, some have flanges on the sides. Bread could also be cooked in earthenware vessels. Pastry cooks were known as pastillarium and bakers of sweetmeats and cakes were termed dulciarius or crustularius. These were respected professions in ancient Rome. By the end of the Republic private bakers known as pistores used mills to mass produce bread. Trajan is said to have established a collegium pistorum to help ensure the continuous supply of bread. According to Pliny the Elder's Natural History women were the primary bakers in most families. It was a common practice to use slaves or criminals as workers in bakeries.
Ingredients
Ancient Roman bread was typically made from sourdough. White raised bread was preferred over unleavened bread; the latter was associated with the lower classes. Sourdough bread was made by mixing flour with water, and leaving the mix in the open air, to be colonised by wild, airborne yeasts. If this "starter" was successful, a small amount was retained uncooked, to be added to the next batch. The rest was baked. A good starter was handled with care. It could be re-used indefinitely, and as much as the flour itself, determined the quality of the bread. Other, less popular leavening agents included soured barley cakes, beer foam, or fermented grape juice. Ash cake was the ancient Roman term for food produced in the ashes of a fire. This type of food may be the ancestor of Italian flatbread focaccia. Many baked goods included large quantities of honey and oil. Leaves were used to flavor the bread. The Romans adopted a Gaulic technique of adding froth to bread dough to make light leavened bread.