Mine Ataman
Founder of the Seed Platform
Oktay Akbal had once said, "Bread was the first to spoil." However, humanity has always met at the table of bread, until death separated us in wealth or poverty. Because humankind became sisters and brothers for the sake of bread and salt. Even though the difficulties of the time strain your heart, every morning you leave home and try to win bread.
Mankind who had been tested with poverty long before dispensed with bread first when wealth came to their hands. In Byzantium, clean and dirty bread separated the tables of nobles and slaves. In the Ottoman Empire, appanage bread and ordinary bread separated the palace and the public bazaar. Although we used to think that white flour is the invention of the modern age, we learned that “the bread issue has been a matter of the country” for thousands of years. Nowadays we are talking about the "future of bread/bread of future".
Agriculture and food 5.0 is the salvation of societies at the threshold of the future when the rational mind will be put into use. The fact that 860 million people live on the breadline, one child dies of starvation every 5 seconds and the diseases faced by those who do not have access to clean water are all the basis of the responsibilities of those who have the bread.
2021 is “the zero point of making dignified decisions". Nowadays, the will to share as well as owning the bread is one of the most important factors that serve the future of bread. While trends are announced, on the one hand, fair sharing in food will determine the future of bread on the other.
In this case, 2021 can be spoken together with the concept of "Bread in the Shadow of Craftsmanship". Craftsmanship takes it as a principle to make and share bread, to measure it on the same scales, and to share it fairly with conscience notebooks before going to bed. Learning the history and philosophy of bread as much as we learn how to bake bread at home will determine the future of Anatolian bread. The "agricultural civilization", which took root with the cultivation of grain, created a 12 thousand-year "history of civilization".
Whatever the earth has lived has stuck to the memory of the seed. Years when history and the new are only a dream... The letters did not remain as they had been set. Particularly, "life did not fit the dream" at all, as Oğuz Atay put it. Humanity plane had already changed the pointer of time while taking root.
Ancient wisdom presented secrets on a silver platter to those who observe nature, open their hearts and look with their hearts. Those who followed in the footsteps of the seed found their traces in their roots and left traces for thousands of years later. The first table was set in Paradise, next to the sacred rivers in Göbeklitepe.
Animals and celestial bodies, which are made of standing stones, have made history about the visual representations of the difference between looking and seeing with sharp objects. The first examples of the art with kneaded dough became the lifeblood of many civilizations, such as the Sumerians, Assyrians, Hittites, Byzantines, Romans, Seljuks, and Ottomans. Whatever is in natures' hands has been shaped by women in ancient times. The women setting tables were fermenting the culture with the decisions they make. The first architectural preferences, the first lines, and the first cookware-bakeware had been shaped by women.
Vergilius Eurysaces was beside the Roman ruler. He brought kings to their knees, turned grain into gold and dough into jewelry. The musicians playing the flute donated silence to the dough so that whoever eats could hear his own voice. Every dough he processed aroused admiration, the kind that made nature's sculptors jealous. The seeds imprisoned by the light transformed the fire into aizle and the labor into art with the surrealist brushstrokes.
As history shows modern times, even though craftsmanship on the needle of the compass has always been a heart stealer, bread was undoubtedly benefiting from the troubles of agriculture from seed to fire. In addition to problems such as carbon footprint, climate change, drought, increasing costs, and increasing population, those who directed agriculture and food agendas were activating the hunger thermostat and playing cat and mouse with our "appetite mechanisms". Naturally, trends rather than needs began to dominate the future of bread and food
FOOD DESIGN IS IN BREAD OF FUTURE
Every stage of bread from seed to fire conceives a thorough design. Breeding for the right grain, food engineering for healthy bread, a sustainable production model for the right bread, and a suitable business model for sales... All processes from seed to table are now the main subject of bread design.
More compact customized bread enriched in protein that can be produced with less raw materials and can give a feeling of satiety for a long time. In other words, products whose equivalent in the world are positioned in the functional food category...
BREAD OF FUTURE
- Breads made with flour that are obtained from grains high in protein, rich in fiber, rich in minerals and vitamins such as folic acid, and weak in gluten.
- Breads seasoned with medicinal aromatics and forest fruits.
- Breads made with flour enriched with legume flour, which is a rich protein source.
- Those made with local grains.
- 85% baked frozen breads prepared with sourdough in an industrial environment.
CAN PURPLE BREAD BE "OUT" AND BREAD WITH MEALWORM BE "IN"?
The most important future problem is to make affordable and nutritional bread by using less grain. The solution is simple but it may not comply with the article "nutrition should be respectful to cultures" in the definition of nutrition of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). But how? For example, among the "rich protein sources" that are thought to be used in the bread of the future, today the most important are different insects. Recently, the European Union Food Safety Authority (EFSA) expressed a positive opinion for the use of "flour worms" in the food industry. Hang on to your hat! The "bread with mealworm" fashion, like the "purple bread" fashion, may begin soon. The only problem is that eating insects does not fit all cultures for both traditional and religious reasons.
SUSTAINABLE RICH PROTEIN SOURCES ARE FUTURE OF BREAD
Studies on innovative protein sources on dozens of products are currently in progress. Insects do not harm the environment and have high nutritional value, just as the nutrients we need in the future should be. The protein ratio of mealworms is over 50%, that is, it contains 3 times the protein of its closest equivalent, cowpea. Crickets, locusts, and mealworms have already given the green light to future tables. Studies on innovative protein sources are currently in progress on dozens of products. Insects do not harm the environment and have high nutritional value just as the nutrients we need in the future should be. The protein ratio of mealworms is over 50%, that is, it contains 3 times the protein of its closest equivalent, cowpea. Crickets, locusts, and mealworms have already given the green light to future tables. Legumes and anchovies prevalent in our culture are among the most valuable alternative protein sources. So, they are the target.
IS THE FUTURE OF BREAD IN TECHNOLOGY?
On the one hand, those having romantic dreams in pursuit of artisan bread, on the other hand, developments in bread technologies with the "meat sandwich" trend to feed 8 billion people... Even if the art of bread challenges the times, the motto "choose to be either an industrialist or a craftsman" seems to explain the most appropriate "business model" for the future bakery. Although Artizan bakery has further developed, the loss of income shows that the market share of high-priced bread types cannot easily increase. The bread of the future is in food 5.0, sourdough, and frozen technology.
For the bread of the future, craftsmanship schools have adopted different philosophies and exit proposals which they consider acceptable. I, as an archaeologist and baker, think: “The future of bread is in adding a pinch of future to the trace of the past”. The world bread market can be directed once again particularly by reflecting the transformation and humility which are hidden in the ancient wisdom of Anatolian geography to bread. By this way, our palate will come back.
WABI SABI - KINTSUGI BREAD PHILOSOPHY
During my 10 years of craftsmanship and agricultural authorship, I have made hundreds of different types of bread, an exhibition of 12-thousand-year-old bread, miniature bread exhibition, mythological bread types, and musical dance show of bread. All this was a rush to carry the past to the future. Because I aimed to transfer the craftsmanship of the past to the bread of the future. Wabi-Sabi bread philosophy was born from this thought. The bread of the future is inspired by the tradition of Wabi-Sabi and Kintsugi, the Japanese life philosophy. It thinks that all kinds of cereal varieties are a valuable part of nature and the "gold of the future" regardless of whether they are improved, unimproved or wild. The healing required for humanity is created by combining medicinal aromatic plants and different protein sources with the grain and Kintsugi technique. The flour, water, and salt that combines the bread are bound with sourdough, strengthened with fire powder. Everything that exists on earth is made up of stardust. The breakdown or dispersion of a living or non-living thing does not mean that it cannot be reunited.
The sentence “A broken glass will never be the same as before” for centuries expresses the interest and admiration for perfection, but also distanced humanity from the principle of “transformation” inherent in nature itself. It has caused it to be driven after a senseless perfectionism. However, the recovery of the dispersed expresses respect for the new and the idea of transformation. You can never make the same bread you hold in your hand with the existing technology. The yeast in it transforms it into a living organism in infinite alternatives. The value added by sourdough bacteria to the dough creates the "taste memory" of the bread as a different flavor component.
Recently, we are witnessing the extreme points of the art of bread and those who try to make perfect designs sign up for pattern courses. In my opinion, the future of bread is hidden in its past; it is crispy and sharing just like bread. Its secret is in its constant renewal and stance away from forms. The bustle of making the best bread and the admiration for the finest are undoubtedly not in the interest of true bread craftsmen. They take each new bread as is with its unique shape, color, and texture, they perceive flaws as a value.
Because great artists create their masterpieces with imperfection, in other words in Wabi-Sabi condition. When using the mind and the brush, they keep them away from the expectation of beauty and the goal of perfection. For example, Monet drew his most beautiful paintings after he had cataracts because his imperfect eyes did not pursue perfection. Lovers, for example; "they go blind", yet we want to open their eyes so that they can notice the flaws sealed in their hearts. Most of the time, the most famous stars come from the imperfect ones. Remember Humphrey Bogart, for example. His nose is as long as your arm, but he is stunning.
THE BREAD CREATING THE TASTE MEMORY
Local seeds, traditional methods, sourdough, and the artisan hands to combine them all will seek for the light of nature, not perfection. Believe me when I say that the concept we call functional bread is not new at all. Assyrians are in the history of the first bread enriched in protein. They added potatoes and beans to bread, the Ottomans added tail fat, Lydians kneaded it with brewsky, Armenian bakery added anise to bread. Everything in nature, season, and garden became binding for the dough. All the flaws of nature, medicinal aromatics, and antioxidants will add the future to dough.
Nearly 10% of the fruits and vegetables are wasted in the field because their physical properties are not admired, and the same amount is wasted in the factories while they are being peeled. If the flour made up of all these is added to the bread recipe, both the nutritional values of vegetables and fruits such as carrots, apples, and spinach will increase the nutritional value of the bread and we will prevent wastage.
FOR THE FUTURE OF BREAD…
Taking advantage of the rich biodiversity of Anatolia.
To contribute to the "taste Renaissance" of our time.
Bringing traditional craftsmanship together with technology.
Discussing 5.0 for bread.
Setting a contemporary bakery goal for a dignified future.