3 days ago
Bread : A Moroccan tradition rooted in millennia-old practices
More than just a daily staple, bread symbolizes the accumulation of traditions, the transmission of know-how, and the preservation of ancestral ways of life. In Morocco, there are many regional variations, but the basic method typically involves mixing ground cereals (flour), yeast, salt, water, and sometimes olive oil.
Within Amazigh culinary heritage, tafarnout exemplifies a centuries-old tradition: kneading a simple dough and baking it in an earthen oven to accompany every meal, breakfast, and snack. This practice has been passed down through generations, often enjoyed with argan oil, honey, or amlou, a traditional almond spread.
While it's difficult to pinpoint exactly when traditional bread became part of Moroccan cuisine, historical evidence shows that this type of preparation is common to many ancient civilizations. Even in prehistoric times, combining water and cereals laid the foundation for early sustenance.
Archaeological findings have revealed the earliest evidence of flour dating back to the Upper Paleolithic, around 30,000 years ago. Later, during the Neolithic period, about 10,000 years ago, flour was transformed into unleavened bread as wheat and barley cultivation emerged in Mesopotamia and along the Nile.
A Process Developed by Ancient Civilizations
With the rise of agriculture, bread preparation became widespread. Between 3400 and 3200 BC, more advanced techniques appeared, including retaining some dough from the previous day as a leaven to induce fermentation. This method was notably practiced in Greece, as archaeological finds at Pompeii confirm.
Ancient Egypt (3150–31 BC) saw a significant evolution in bread-making, which became a societal symbol. Cereals were cooked into thick porridge, likely why many historical accounts associate bread's origins with this region. Food historian Pierre Leclercq, a scientific collaborator at the Transitions Research Unit at the University of Liège, explains this in detail.
In his 2018 interview, «The Great Myths of Gastronomy: The History of Bread», Leclercq revisits the story of leavened bread's origins, including the legend of an Egyptian peasant woman who supposedly left dough forgotten in a corner, only to find it had risen days later.
Leclercq notes this tale was popularized by 19th-century sociologist Louis Bourdeau, who, in his 1894 book History of Food, argued that early farmers invented the millstone to grind grain into flour. Initially, this flour was eaten as porridge «a very simple, quick preparation, but one that was unappetizing and heavy on the stomach».
According to him, leavened bread would thus be an invention dating back nearly 4,000 years. «Forty years after the publication of Louis Bourdeau's work, this story was taken up and refined by Polish botanist Adam Maurizio in his monumental History of Plant-Based Food, published in 1932, which would become authoritative for the next fifty years. Not only is this story far too simplistic, but it also involves several myths», explains Pierre Leclercq.
In his remarks, the historian indeed deconstructs «the myth of a linear evolution from porridge, necessarily rustic and indigestible, to flatbread and finally to leavened bread, the pinnacle of civilization that ousted its predecessors». «Faced with archaeological reality, this cultural prejudice does not hold up. On one hand, it is quite probable that flatbread preceded porridge, not the other way around, and on the other hand, it is noted that porridge was sometimes preferred over flatbread, despite the presence of bread-making wheats, as, for example, at the Neolithic site of Çatal Höyük», he emphasized.
«Theories of chance present our ancestors as passive beings entangled in a routine that would only be disrupted by one accident or another responsible for a spontaneous innovation, as if fallen from the sky. The men and women of the Neolithic and Late Antiquity were capable of anticipation; they had imagination. One action leads to another, and a product progresses slowly with technological, agricultural, but also cultural evolutions».
Traditions Rooted in Culinary Habits
Further on, Pierre Leclercq mentions that despite limited archaeological evidence, it could be said that sourdough bread might have emerged around 6,000 BC, with the proliferation of bread molds in the Middle East. «But this does not mean that leavened bread eradicated all other forms of cereal products, as in Neolithic Europe as well as in Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations, breads, porridges, and flatbreads coexisted», he specifies.
This coexistence explains the many regional variations in dough and cereal mixtures around the Mediterranean, such as Morocco's tafarnout. In Europe, bread-making evolved over centuries, becoming a social marker by the Christian medieval era. For example, stale bread was used as an edible plate, or «trencher», a practice that continued until wooden plates became common.
On the southern shore of the Mediterranean, a distinction between «white bread» and «black bread» existed, notes Mohamed Houbaida, history professor at Ibn Tofail University in Kenitra.
In his 2017 book Vegetal Morocco – Agriculture and Food in Pre-Colonial Morocco (Le Fennec), Houbaida highlights Morocco's rich cereal production history. Barley and whole-grain breads were staples for the general population, while wheat-based bread was traditionally reserved for the elite.
The taste of kneaded, baked dough has long attracted enthusiasts beyond cultural boundaries. Houbaida cites Danish consul Georg Høst, who lived in Rabat in the 18th century and described Moroccan white bread in 1799 as «the best in the world».
Houbaida also points to different dough variations—some with yeast, some without—prepared in cities and rural areas. Industrial flour-based bread only became widespread in Morocco in the mid-20th century.
Beyond being a culinary habit, bread-making has been a driver for many trades: neighborhood ovens, mills, and bakeries emerged as integral parts of society. Despite economic, social, and industrial changes, bread remains central to daily diets in Morocco.
