4500 Years Later: Meet the Man Who Baked Ancient Egyptian Sourdough in His Backyard
We stumbled upon a story that we had to share with you. Get this: back in 2020, during Corona, a lot of us got into a baking craze. From banana bread to sourdough loaf, it was a full-blown obsession.
But that’s not what’s crazy. One person in particular shocked the world: the man who baked a 4,500-year-old ancient Egyptian sourdough.
You heard that right! Meet Seamus Blackley, the man who invented the Xbox and didn’t stop there. He also decided to bake the oldest sourdough bread. You may be asking how he got the idea. Well, it all started when his friend brought him ancient Egyptian yeast.
Blackley, the baker, got right to it with the help of an archaeologist and a biologist. It all started with him extracting the ancient yeast, reviving it, and baking it on a pan in his home oven. He didn’t want to stop there; he wanted it to be an ancient loaf through and through, which meant he had to bake like an Egyptian.
To do so, he built his very own bedja, a conical clay pot ancient Egyptians used for baking, and dug a hole in his backyard to master underground baking. His backyard loaf proved exceptional, except that its top part was burnt.
It was truly something, as he managed to re-create history and do so through a lot of trial, error, and tests. What else would you like to see get re-created? Maybe an ancient Egyptian cheese?
