5,000-Year-Old Bread Recipe Recreated in Turkey—and Locals Can't Get Enough
Scientists have discovered an ancient bread recipe in Turkey—and now the local bakery that recreated it can't keep up with demand.
Some 5,000 years ago, someone buried a piece of charred bread beneath the threshold of a house in what is now Eskisehir in central Turkey. Archaeologists unearthed it in September 2024 during an excavation at Kulluoba Hoyuk, a Bronze Age settlement that has been under investigation for decades. The remarkably preserved bread has been on display at the Eskişehir Archaeological Museum since March 28.
'This is the oldest baked bread to have come to light during an excavation, and it has largely preserved its shape,' said Murat Turkteki, archaeologist and director of the excavation, in an interview with AFP.
Analysis revealed that the bread was made from coarsely ground emmer flour—an ancient wheat variety—along with lentil seeds and a plant leaf used as a natural leavening agent. Flat like a pancake and disc-shaped, the bread measures about 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) in diameter.
Curious to see if the recipe could be recreated, local officials contacted Halk Ekmek, a bakery in Eskisehir. Since ancient emmer seeds are no longer available in Turkey, the bakers used Kavilca wheat—a closely related variety—along with bulgur and lentils to approximate the original ingredients.
And apparently, it's delicious. The first batch sold out within hours, and the bakery has been selling around 300 loaves of 'Kulluoba bread' daily ever since. With municipal subsidies, the bread is sold for just 50 Turkish lira (about $1.30).
Another compelling aspect of the bread is that it's made from drought-resistant crops. This has caught the attention of both archaeologists and local officials. Turkey currently cultivates water-intensive crops like corn and sunflowers, but Kavilca wheat is resistant to both drought and disease.
'Our ancestors are teaching us a lesson. Like them, we should be moving toward less thirsty crops,' Ayse Unluce, the mayor of Eskisehir, told AFP.
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