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https://github.com/hendricius/the-sourdough-framework
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History chapter (#3)
This adds the history chapter talking about the history of sourdough bread.
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allcolors=black
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allcolors=black
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}
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}
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\graphicspath{ {./images/}{./troubleshooting/crumb-structures/}{./images/external/} }
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\graphicspath{
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{./images/}
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{./troubleshooting/crumb-structures/}
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{./history/}
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{./images/external/}
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}
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\title{%
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\title{%
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\mainmatter
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\mainmatter
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\chapter{The history of sourdough}
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\chapter{The history of sourdough}
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\section{Sourdough bread in ancient times}
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\input{history/sourdough-history}
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\section{How modern bread is made}
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\section{Sourdough in modern times}
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\chapter{How sourdough works}
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\chapter{How sourdough works}
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\section{Enzymatic reactions}
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\section{Enzymatic reactions}
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book/history/sourdough-history.tex
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book/history/sourdough-history.tex
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Sourdough has been made since ancient times. The exact origins
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of fermented bread is however unknown. One of the most ancient
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preserved sourdough breads has been excavated in Switzerland.
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However based on recent research some scientists speculate
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that sourdough bread has already been made 12000 BC in ancient
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Jordan \cite{jordan+bread}.
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\begin{figure}[h]
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\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{einkorn-crumb}
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\caption{An ancient Einkorn flatbread. Note the denser crumb structure.}
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\label{einkorn-crumb}
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\end{figure}
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Another popular story is that a lady in Egypt was making
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a bread dough close to the Nile river. The lady forgot the
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dough and returned a few days later. She would notice that
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the dough had increased in size and smelled funky. She decided
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to bake the dough anyways. She was rewarded with a much
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lighter softer better tasting bread dough. From that day
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on she continued to make bread this way.
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Little did the people back then know that tiny microorganisms
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were the reason they made better bread. It is not clear when
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people started using a bit of the dough from the previous
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day for the next batch of dough. But by doing so sourdough
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bread making was born. Wild yeast on the flour and in the air
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plus bacteria start to decompose the flour water mixture, also
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known as your dough. The yeast makes the dough fluffy and
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the bacteria primarily creates acidity. Both the different
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microorganisms work in a symbiotic relationship. Humans
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appreciated the enhanced airy structure and slight acidity
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of the dough. Furthermore the shelf life of such a bread
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was extended due to the increased acidity.
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Quickly similar processes were discovered when brewing beer
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or making wine. A small tiny batch of the previous production
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would be used for the next production. This way humans created
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modern bread yeasts, wine yeasts and beer yeasts. Only in 1680
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the scientist Anton van Leeuwenhoek first microscoped yeast
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microorganisms. Over time with each bach the yeasts and bacteria
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would become better at consuming whatever they were thrown at.
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By feeding your sourdough starter you are selectively breeding
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microorganisms that are good at eating your flour. With
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each iteration your sourdough knows how to better ferment the flour
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at hand. This is also the reason why more mature sourdough starters sometimes
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tend to leaven doughs faster (source needed). It is crazy if you
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think about it. People have been using this process despite not
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knowing what was actually going on for thousands of years! The
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sourdough in itself is a symbiotic relationship. But the sourdough
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also adapted to humans and formed a symbiotic relationship with us.
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For food and water we are rewarded with delicious bread. In exchange
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we shelter and protect the sourdough. Spores from the starter
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are spread through aerial contamination or through insects like fruit flies.
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This allows the sourdough starter to spread its spores even
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further all around the world.
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Brewers would start to experiment utilizing the muddy leftovers
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of the beer fermentation to start making doughs. They would notice
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that the resulting bread doughs were becoming fluffy and compared
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to the sourdough process would lack the acidity in the final product.
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A popular example is shown in a report from 1875. Eben Norton Horsford
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would write about famous "Kaiser Semmeln" (Emperor's bread rolls).
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These are essentially bread rolls made with brewer's yeast instead
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of the sourdough leavening agent. As the process is more expensive
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bread rolls like these were ultimately consumed by the noble people
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in Vienna \cite{vienna+breadrolls}.
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\begin{figure}[h]
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\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{sourdough-stove}
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\caption{A bread made over the stove without an oven}
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\label{sourdough-stove}
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\end{figure}
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Only in 1857 the French microbiologist Louis Pasteur discovered
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the process of alcoholic fermentation. He would prove that
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yeast microorganisms are the reason for alcoholic fermentation
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and not other chemical catalysts. What would then start is
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what I describe as the 150 lost years of bread making. In 1879
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the first machines and centrifuges were developed to centrifuge
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pure yeast. This yeast would be extracted from batches of sourdough.
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The pure yeast would prove to be excellent and turbocharged
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at leavening bread doughs. What would previously take 10 hours
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to leaven a bread dough could now be done within 1 hour.
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The process became much more efficient. During world war II
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the first packaged dry yeast was developed. This would ultimately
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allow bakeries and home bakers to make bread way faster.
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Thanks to pure yeast building bread making machines was
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possible. Provided you have the same temperature your yeast
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would always ferment exactly the same way. As fermentation
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times sped up the taste of the final bread would deteriorate.
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The sprouting process induced by certain enzymes is essential
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to develop a fluffier texture and better tasting crust. This
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can't be indefinitely sped up. Soon bakeries would start
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to introduce additional enzymes to achieve similar properties
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of sourdough breads in yeast based doughs. Sourdough almost
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completely vanished from the surface. Only a handful
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of true nerds would continue making breads with sourdough.
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Suddenly people started to talk more often about celiac disease
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and the role of gluten. The disease isn't old, it has first
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been described in 250 AD \cite{coeliac+disease}. People
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would note how modern bread has much more gluten compared
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to ancient bread. The bread in ancient times probably was way more flat.
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The grains over time have been bread more and more towards containing a higher
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amount of gluten. Gluten is a protein that gives modern
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bread it's typical soft fluffy crumb structure. The
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gluten proteins bind together once activated with water.
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Throughout the course of the fermentation CO2 is trapped
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in this protein matrix. The tiny created chambers expand
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during the baking process. As the dough gelatinizes while
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being heated the structure is fortified. This makes the bread appear
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soft and fluffy when tasting it. Similar to drinking
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raw cow milk your immune system might react to
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the consumed proteins. There is gluten intolerance
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and celiac disease. When people say they don't handle
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gluten will it's mostly a gluten intolerance they describe.
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Some people describe similar issues when consuming
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too much lactose. If you eat a long fermented cheese
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however most of the lactose has been fermented by
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the tiny microorganisms. People would investigate and
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note how sourdough bread can typically be handled better
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compared to plain fast made factory breads. The
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reason for this is that enzymes take time to work the dough.
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The gluten is a storage protein from the flour. Once
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sprouting is activated by adding water, the protease
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enzyme starts to convert the gluten into tinier amino acids
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that are required for sprouting. Over time you are effectively
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losing gluten as it's naturally broken down. Furthermore
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traditionally lactic acid bacteria would start to decompose
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the flour water mix. Almost everything is recycled in nature.
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Part of their diet is to consume the proteins of the dough.
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Modern bread is faster and no longer has lactic acid bacteria.
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Both factors together mean that you are consuming products
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with a much higher gluten value compared to ancient times
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when natural fermentation was used \cite{raffaella+di+cagno}.
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During the California gold rush french bakers brought the sourdough
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culture to northern america. A popular bread became the
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San Francisco sourdough. It's characterized by its unique
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tang (which was previously common for every bread). It
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however remained more of niche food. What really expedited
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the comeback of sourdough was the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
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Flour and yeast became scarce in the supermarkets. While
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flour returned yeast couldn't be found. People started
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to look for alternatives and rediscovered the ancient
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way of making sourdough bread. Soon many realized
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that making sourdough bread is more complex than modern
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yeast based bread. You need to maintain a sourdough starter
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and have it in ideal shape to properly ferment your dough.
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Furthermore compared to a yeast based dough you can't just
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punch the dough down and let the fermentation continue.
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You can overferment your dough resulting a sticky
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dough mess. This complexity lead to many bakers looking
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for help and many thriving communities formed around
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the topic of homemade bread.
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When interviewing Karl de Smedt (owner of the Sourdough
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Library) he said something that changed my way of thinking
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about bread: "The future of
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modern bread is in the past \cite{interview+karl+de+smedt}."
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}
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}
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@article{rye-defects,
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@article{rye-defects,
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author = {Marie Oest et al.},
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author = {Marie Oest et al.},
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title = {Rye Bread Defects: Analysis of Composition and
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title = {Rye Bread Defects: Analysis of Composition and
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Further Influence Factors as Determinants
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Further Influence Factors as Determinants
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of Dry-Baking},
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of Dry-Baking},
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journal = {Applied and environmental microbiology},
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journal = {Applied and environmental microbiology},
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publisher = {Foods},
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publisher = {Foods},
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url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/9/12/1900/pdf}
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howpublished = {\url{https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/9/12/1900/pdf}}
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}
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}
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@article{stiff+starter,
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@article{stiff+starter,
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howpublished = {\url{http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/acetic-acid/acetic-acidjs.htm}},
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howpublished = {\url{http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/acetic-acid/acetic-acidjs.htm}},
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note = {Accessed: 2022-04-29}
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note = {Accessed: 2022-04-29}
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}
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}
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@article{jordan+bread,
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author = {Amaia Arranz-Otaegui et al.},
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title = {Archaeobotanical evidence reveals the origins of bread 14,400 years ago in northeastern Jordan},
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journal = {Proc Natl Acad Sci USA},
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year = {2018},
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howpublished = {\url{https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6077754/}}
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}
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@article{vienna+breadrolls,
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author = {Eben Norton Horsford},
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title = {Report on Vienna bread},
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year = {1875},
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howpublished = {\url{https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_6jRDAAAAIAAJ/page/n100/mode/2up}},
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note = {Accessed: 2022-05-02}
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}
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@article{coeliac+disease,
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author = {Giovanni Battista Gasbarrini et al.},
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title = {Coeliac disease: an old or a new disease? History of a pathology},
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year = {2014},
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journal = {Intern Emerg Med.},
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howpublished = {\url{https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24435555/}}
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}
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@article{interview+karl+de+smedt,
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author = {Hendrik Kleinwächter},
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title = {Interview with Karl de Smedt},
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year = {2021},
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howpublished = {\url{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfDIfkqBCuk}},
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note = {Accessed: 2022-05-06}
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}
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