Fire was the first force of nature tamed for cooking.
Yeast was the second.
Fire was the first force of nature tamed for cooking.
Yeast was the second.
About 4000 years ago, the Egyptians used yeast to make bread. In fact, archaeologists found grinders and cooking chambers, as well as hieroglyphics showing bread bakeries
During the Shang Dynasty in China (ca. 1600 BCE – ca. 1046 BCE), yeast was used to make liqueur. During the Han Dynasty (which governed from 206 BCE to 220 CE), people began using yeast to make special steamed bread cakes and other sweets.
In 1680, Dutchman Antonie van Leeuwenhoek observed yeast for the first time with a microscope. In the 19th century, Pasteur discovered that yeast could play several important roles and soon understood its indispensable part in giving bread its fragrances and flavours.
He revealed these “mysteries” by demonstrating that yeast cells can live with or without oxygen.
In 1846, the first industrialized production of yeast began in Europe.
At the beginning of the 1900s, biologists discovered that yeast multiplies quickly in the air without producing alcohol. This knowledge led to the development of the modern yeast industry, selecting and creating suitable cultures for specific breadmaking needs.
Clearly, we have been using yeast for a long, long time,
to prepare some of the most famous foods in the world
The word “yeast” derives from the ancient Indo-European word “gist” or “gyst”, which means “to boil” or “boil” and vividly describes yeast’s function and effect in breadmaking.
Yet again, it was our friend Pasteur who gave it the scientific name Saccharomyces cerevisiae, discovering its action in beer fermentation.
Our yeast is a microscopic, single-cell fungus present in nature with an elliptical shape, in the genus Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Given its size, a yeast cell in only visible using a microscope.
One compressed gram contains more than seven billion cells and reproduces by gemmation. A gemma forms and grows on the mother cell that detaches when it becomes an adult, giving life to a new cell.
The external layer of the yeast cell is the cell wall, which plays an essential role in protecting the cell, and is primarily comprised of glucan and mannan.
Varieties: there are over 500 species of yeast.
Uses: fermentation, for bread, wine, beer, etc.
Origins: traces have been found from as early as 4,000 years ago.
It produces carbon dioxide: metabolizing the sugars contained in the dough. The gas developed causes the expansion of the dough because it remains trapped in its protein matrix.
It causes ageing of the dough: producing that light and airy structure typical of leavened products.
This is why bread is so fragrant: it gives the bread its characteristic aroma with the production of secondary metabolites during leavening.
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