Bread heads the list of foods for man.

It is said that a slave of an archon at Athens first made leaven bread by accident. He forgot some of his dough, and, some days after, came upon it and found it sour. His first thoughts were to throw it away; but, his master coming out, he mixed it quickly with some fresh dough he was working. Of course the bread this produced was delicious:

Bread is mostly made from wheat, as that grain contains more gluten in the proper proportion to make a light and spongy bread, which will allow the juices of the stomach to have access to every part, and digestion in all parts is commenced immediately.

Please note under the head of cereals the chemical composition of wheat, and you will see at once that our fine white bread contains little but starch. We cannot say that such bread is the "staff of life," but the brown (not bran), whole wheat bread constitutes, in itself, a complete life-sustainer; consequently, bread-making is the most important of the cookery of grain food.

The grinding is the first process of this cookery, and is performed in several ways, each one claiming superiority. One is by grinding the grain between two horizontal stones, the upper revolving and grinding the grain against the lower one, which is stationary. In this way the bran or outer husk is simply separated from the grain; the gluten is divided minutely, while the starch or white part of the grain is finely powdered. It is then sifted through bolting-cloth, and makes our fine white flour, coarse wheat meal, and bran. The flour containing little or no bran is most easily digested. Another method is the Minnesota or "patent process." In this way the grain is crushed (not ground) by passing through corrugated rollers, and then sifted through bolting-cloths. Still another is the new patent or Haxall process. By this method the flour is granulated, and contains much more gluten than either of the others; consequently, one-eighth less may be used in all recipes for bread, biscuit, or cakes.

The fancy names given to flour amount to very little, as the same flour is sold by several dealers under their own and different brands.

Good flour adheres to the hand, and, when pressed tightly, remains in shape, and shows the imprint of the lines of the skin on the hand. It has a yellowish-white tinge, and, when made into a paste with water, and well worked, is tough and elastic. Select it carefully, and use one kind for all purposes - cakes, pastry, and bread. It is a mistaken idea that the flour which makes good bread will not make good pastry. After selecting the flour, the next important thing is to have good, strong, sweet yeast. Potato yeast is the best, as the potato starch is particularly adapted to the yeast fermentation. The compressed cakes, however, are very good and convenient, one cake being equal to one cup of good yeast. Yeast is a plant, and a very delicate one, that does not flourish under extreme heat or cold; therefore, you must be very choice in the selection of the place where the bread shall stand to ferment. If chilled, it is spoiled; if scalded, it is killed, and nothing can restore it. An even temperature, from 68° to 72°, is best. In warm weather, take the liquid cool; in winter blood-warm.

As dough contains both sugar and gluten, when moistened and subjected to a temperature of 106o to 108o for six hours, it is capable of fermentation; then, by adding more moisture and flour, and fermenting again, then baking, you have salt-rising, or milk-emptyings bread, a sweet, fine, and delicious bread.

There are various ways of making bread - with milk, water, potatoes, etc.; but the two points, sweetness and lightness, remain always the chief consideration. If milk is used, it should be scalded and cooled; this prevents its souring. Next comes the mixing or sponging of the bread; that is, surrounding each grain of flour with a film of water, to combine and hydrate the starch, to dissolve the sugar and albumen, and to moisten the gluten, which causes them to adhere and form a dough. This is not, then, a mere mixture, but an actual chemical combination; but, as we cannot use water enough to alone effect this, it must be supplemented by kneading, and here comes our most important point. So far, this has been best accomplished by the hands; all machines made for the purpose, that have come under my observation, have been failures. As the eye cannot penetrate into the centre of the dough to discover the lumps, etc., we have no guide except the sense of touch. The excellency of bread depends much upon the thoroughness of its kneading. First work the dough in the pan until it loses part of its stickiness; then thickly flour the board, flour the hands, take out the dough, and knead rapidly and continuously by drawing the dough farthest from you over to the centre, and pressing it down with the ball of the hand. Repeat this several times, then turn the dough around and knead the other side, and so on, until every part is thoroughly and evenly kneaded. This will take about fifteen or twenty minutes. When you first begin, the dough will be soft and sticky, but will become less so the longer you knead, and, when you can knead it on an unfloured, dry board, the kneading may be discontinued.

Kneading renders the gluten so elastic that the dough is capable of expanding to twice its bulk without breaking or cracking. After this, you stand it away to rise. Give it time to fully expand, but be careful that the dough does not fall, as it is then sour, and nothing can be added to restore the original sweetness. Soda is sometimes used, but does not accomplish the object. This falling or souring is caused by the yeast consuming or eating up every atom of flour. If a handful of flour be added to the dough, and the dough then pressed down, it might stand, then, perhaps another hour, or until this flour is consumed, without souring.

Next comes the moulding. After this dough is very light, divide it carefully into loaves; knead lightly on the board until formed; place each one in its own pan (the best pans are made from sheet iron, eight inches long, four wide, and four deep), and stand back in a warm place until double its bulk.

Now comes the baking, which is equally important. There are several ways of testing the oven without a thermometer. One is the baker's method; he throws flour on the floor of the oven; if it browns quickly, without taking fire, the heat is sufficient, or if you can hold your hand in the oven while you count twenty slowly, it is right; or, if you use a thermometer, 360o. The bread should be in the oven ten minutes before it begins to brown.

If the oven be too hot, a thick crust is produced, forming a non-conducting covering to the loaf, which prevents the heat from penetrating to the interior; hence, the burnt loaf is always unbaked in the centre, and the dextrine is changed into caramel, thus making the crust bitter instead of sweet. Bake in single pans, three-quarters of an hour. When done, remove it immediately from the pan, and tip against a plate or bread board, so that the air will circulate freely around it. Do not cover, if you like a crisp, sweet crust. When perfectly cold, put it into a sweet, clean, tin bread box, without any wrapping, as the cloth absorbs the moisture, and very soon sours and moulds, destroying the flavor of the bread.