Much like today, bread was a staple food in the Roman diet. Rather than making bread at home, buying bread from bakeries was commonplace as it is today. In most cases, these bakeries or pistrina made many varieties of bread and sold it in adjoining shops. Archaeological remains show a large quantity and a highly advanced number of bakeries throughout Pompeii proving their importance in everyday life. Likewise, thermopolia were important and very comparable to modern day dining. Thermopolia have been compared to both fast food restaurants and snack bars as they had ready-to-go hot food. Thermopolia were frequented by the poor and often scorned by the upper class. With both the thermopolia and pistrina, connections can be made between daily lives
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Historians had uncovered many pieces of evidence for the actual ingredients and recipes used in bread during Roman times before Pompeii was uncovered. However, Pompeii opened up a new aspect of breadmaking to study. With archaeological evidence from Pompeii, historians could begin to piece together the actual production and commercial distribution of bread in Pompeii and the rest of the Roman empire in the first century AD. Some of this evidence includes preserved commercial bakeries or pistrina with mills, ovens, and basic machinery. One large piece of evidence representing the importance of bread in the Roman diet is the scale of production and the number of bakeries in Pompeii alone (about 35 for 8000-12000 people). Although some would still bake at home, the preserved bakeries show there was a demand for store-bought bread. In fact, over eighty preserved loaves of bread were found in one Pompeiian oven. Some bakeries, the larger ones especially, had their own mills and were in locations nearest …show more content…
Journeymen means they had been trained but were not yet the owners of the bakeries. The actual bread making process was highly advanced. Many Roman bakeries used sophisticated machinery to knead dough. A large scale dough mixer using paddles was uncovered in one Pompeian bakery. Only the actual shaping of the bread and bakeries’ marks were done without machinery. Bakeries’ marks were required in the Roman Empire to distinguish sources of bread and prevent fraud. Bakeries also had advanced ovens that could in some cases hold over eighty loaves of bread. Rooms with ovens had ventilation systems to get rid of smoke. The baking process took about half an hour with the wood burning ovens before its sale to the public. Varieties of bread were produced based on the fineness of the flour. Coarser flour produced lower quality and thus cheaper bread. Higher quality, finer bread required more grinding. Also, some bread was topped with sesames, anise, or poppyseeds. Some stores had adjoining shops while others had entrances at the street for transportation indicating there was a
Historians had uncovered many pieces of evidence for the actual ingredients and recipes used in bread during Roman times before Pompeii was uncovered. However, Pompeii opened up a new aspect of breadmaking to study. With archaeological evidence from Pompeii, historians could begin to piece together the actual production and commercial distribution of bread in Pompeii and the rest of the Roman empire in the first century AD. Some of this evidence includes preserved commercial bakeries or pistrina with mills, ovens, and basic machinery. One large piece of evidence representing the importance of bread in the Roman diet is the scale of production and the number of bakeries in Pompeii alone (about 35 for 8000-12000 people). Although some would still bake at home, the preserved bakeries show there was a demand for store-bought bread. In fact, over eighty preserved loaves of bread were found in one Pompeiian oven. Some bakeries, the larger ones especially, had their own mills and were in locations nearest …show more content…
Journeymen means they had been trained but were not yet the owners of the bakeries. The actual bread making process was highly advanced. Many Roman bakeries used sophisticated machinery to knead dough. A large scale dough mixer using paddles was uncovered in one Pompeian bakery. Only the actual shaping of the bread and bakeries’ marks were done without machinery. Bakeries’ marks were required in the Roman Empire to distinguish sources of bread and prevent fraud. Bakeries also had advanced ovens that could in some cases hold over eighty loaves of bread. Rooms with ovens had ventilation systems to get rid of smoke. The baking process took about half an hour with the wood burning ovens before its sale to the public. Varieties of bread were produced based on the fineness of the flour. Coarser flour produced lower quality and thus cheaper bread. Higher quality, finer bread required more grinding. Also, some bread was topped with sesames, anise, or poppyseeds. Some stores had adjoining shops while others had entrances at the street for transportation indicating there was a