flipEmmer Bread from Aten's Garden
Emmer Bread from Aten's Garden
Why this dish? Bread (ta) is the staple of all Egypt, and it appears on every offering table of Aten. In the city of the sun, this emmer bread was baked for the living as well as for the disk: the same bread nourished the people of Akhetaten and filled the altars of the god.
A flat, dense loaf of emmer wheat, barely salted, baked until golden. It is the everyday bread, broken by hand to dip into fava beans or accompany a fruit.
The grain you sow, it is I who make it grow: my heat swells the ear of emmer in the fields of the valley. Grind it between your stones, mix it with river water and a pinch of desert salt, then let the dough breathe in the sun before baking it on the hot stone. At my table in Akhetaten, this simple bread was worth more than all the meats of the old gods, for it was pure and came from my light.
- •Emmer flour (farro) — as needed (basic grain)
- •Nile water — enough for dough (binder)
- •Natural sourdough (yesterday's dough) — a little (fermentation)
- •Salt — a pinch (flavor)
Emmer Bread from Aten's Garden
A flat, dense loaf of emmer wheat, barely salted, baked until golden. It is the everyday bread, broken by hand to dip into fava beans or accompany a fruit.
Why this dish? Bread (ta) is the staple of all Egypt, and it appears on every offering table of Aten. In the city of the sun, this emmer bread was baked for the living as well as for the disk: the same bread nourished the people of Akhetaten and filled the altars of the god.
The grain you sow, it is I who make it grow: my heat swells the ear of emmer in the fields of the valley. Grind it between your stones, mix it with river water and a pinch of desert salt, then let the dough breathe in the sun before baking it on the hot stone. At my table in Akhetaten, this simple bread was worth more than all the meats of the old gods, for it was pure and came from my light.
Ingredients (period version)
- Emmer flour (farro) — as needed (basic grain)
- Nile water — enough for dough (binder)
- Natural sourdough (yesterday's dough) — a little (fermentation)
- Salt — a pinch (flavor)
Ingredients
- Spelt or einkorn flour (if emmer unavailable) — 300 g (grain)
- Whole wheat flour — 100 g (structure)
- Warm water — 250 ml (binder)
- Sourdough starter or active dry yeast — 1 tsp dry yeast (fermentation)
- Salt — 1 tsp (flavor)
Method
- Mix the flours and salt in a large bowl.
- Dissolve the yeast (or sourdough) in warm water, then pour into the flours.
- Knead for 8–10 minutes until a supple dough forms; cover and let rise for 1½ hours in a warm place.
- Punch down, shape a thick disk or several small conical loaves.
- Let rest for 30 minutes, then bake at 230°C on a hot stone or baking sheet for 20–25 minutes, until a nice golden crust forms.
- Let cool slightly and break by hand, Egyptian style.
How it was made : Emmer was the bread-making cereal of ancient Egypt (common wheat came later). Bread was baked in preheated terracotta molds or against the walls of a clay cone-oven. Salt, scarce, was used sparingly. Beer and bread shared the same fermented dough: they are the two pillars of the diet.
The contemporary twist : Shape small conical loaves and mark the top with a cross: a reminder of the pointed loaves piled on offering reliefs at Amarna.
Sources : Pierre Tallet, "La cuisine des pharaons" (Actes Sud) · Delwen Samuel, research on ancient Egyptian bread making (Amarna) · W. J. Darby et al., "Food: The Gift of Osiris" (1977)
Aten · Charactorium
