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| Baking | |
|---|---|
| Name | Baking |
| Type | Culinary technique |
| Invented | Ancient Near East |
| Country | Worldwide |
Baking is a culinary technique for cooking food using prolonged dry heat, typically in an oven, used to produce breads, pastries, cakes, and savory dishes. It evolved across cultures and epochs, influencing and influenced by figures, institutions, and events in commerce, exploration, and urban life. Baking connects to technological advances in ovens and mills and to traditions preserved by bakers' guilds and culinary schools.
Baking traces to the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean, with links to Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Minoan civilization, Mycenaeans, and Roman Empire culinary practices. Medieval European baking was regulated by Guilds of Florence, Guild of Bakers of Paris, and municipal statutes in London, while innovations spread via trade routes such as the Silk Road and voyages of Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama. The Industrial Revolution and inventors like those behind the Bessemer process and steam power enabled mechanized milling and large-scale production, transforming practices in cities like Manchester and New York City. The 20th century saw influence from institutions like the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and companies such as General Mills, Kraft Foods, and Campbell Soup Company, while culinary education expanded at schools like the Culinary Institute of America and Le Cordon Bleu. Wars and rationing during World War I and World War II prompted innovations in shelf-stable products and substitutes, impacting brands such as Wrigley Company and manufacturers supplying military provisions. Globalization linked practices across regions including France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Mexico, India, and China, and events like the Great Exhibition showcased industrial baking machinery. Modern movements engage institutions such as Slow Food and competitions like the James Beard Foundation awards.
Common methods include mixing, kneading, proofing, shaping, and baking in ovens used by households, bakeries, and institutions like Sainsbury's supply chains and hotel kitchens such as those at the Ritz-Carlton. Techniques vary: artisanal sourdough relies on starter fermentation popularized in locales like San Francisco; laminated dough methods are associated with French houses such as Maison Ladurée and chefs like Auguste Escoffier; and industrial continuous baking lines are used by corporations including Nestlé and PepsiCo. Processes incorporate leavening via yeast strains harvested and propagated by suppliers like Lesaffre and chemical leaveners commercialized by firms such as Baking Powder Company predecessors. Pastry techniques developed in royal courts such as Versailles influenced patisserie traditions upheld by pastry chefs trained at École Lenôtre and celebrated in competitions like the Bocuse d'Or.
Primary ingredients include flours milled by companies like Archer Daniels Midland, sweeteners from growers linked to markets such as Eden Project awareness campaigns, fats supplied by corporations like Cargill, dairy products from cooperatives such as Land O'Lakes, eggs produced by farms regulated under laws like those of European Union food safety directives, and salts traded through ports like Rotterdam. Leavening agents include baker's yeast strains propagated by firms such as Fermentis and chemical leaveners commercialized in the 19th century by inventors connected to patents and companies headquartered in cities like Boston and Paris. Flavorings and additions originate from sources such as Madagascar vanilla farms, Côte d'Ivoire cocoa plantations supplying confectionery firms like Mars, Incorporated, and nuts traded via exchanges in Zurich and Frankfurt am Main.
Equipment ranges from domestic ovens by manufacturers like Whirlpool Corporation and Bosch to industrial tunnel ovens produced by companies like Revent and Bühler Group. Smallwares include mixers from brands such as KitchenAid and Hobart, scales and thermometers calibrated to standards set by institutions like the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and baking pans and molds made by firms trading on exchanges in Tokyo and London. Artisan bakeries may employ stone hearths modeled on ovens in Naples and brick ovens preserved at institutions such as The British Museum exhibits, while laboratory analyses of crumb structure occur in research centers affiliated with universities like University of Cambridge and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Baked goods encompass breads (artisan sourdoughs of San Francisco style, baguettes associated with Paris), cakes showcased at events like the Chelsea Flower Show and Royal Ascot hospitality, pastries from patisseries such as Pierre Hermé and PAUL, cookies and biscuits produced by brands like McVitie's and Oreo from New Jersey factories, and savory items like pies central to traditions in United Kingdom and Australia. Specialty items include cultural staples such as bagels tied to communities in New York City and Montreal, flatbreads from regions like India and Turkey, and holiday confections linked to festivals such as Diwali, Christmas, and Hanukkah.
Baking science draws on research from institutions such as University of California, Davis, Cornell University, and Wageningen University & Research, integrating food chemistry, microbiology, and physics. Studies examine gluten development from wheat proteins traced to cultivars registered with agricultural bodies like International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, enzymatic activity, Maillard reactions characterized in journals associated with organizations like the American Chemical Society, and heat transfer modeled in engineering departments at ETH Zurich and Stanford University. Food technologists collaborate with industrial partners such as Kellogg Company and regulatory agencies like European Food Safety Authority to optimize shelf life and nutrition.
Food safety practices are governed by agencies including the Food and Drug Administration, European Food Safety Authority, and national ministries such as the Ministry of Health (Japan), which set standards for temperature control, allergen labeling, and sanitation in bakeries and food service establishments like chains Starbucks and Pret A Manger. Training programs at institutions such as ServSafe and certifications from organizations like the World Health Organization guidance inform handling of raw eggs, cross-contamination prevention, and recall procedures used by corporations such as Tesco and Walmart during supply-chain incidents.
Category:Culinary techniques