“An early leavened bread was baked as early as 6000 BC in southern Mesopotamia, cradle of the Sumerian civilization, who may have passed on the knowledge to the Egyptians around 3000 BC. The Egyptians refined the process and started adding yeast to the flour. The Sumerians were already using ash to supplement the dough as it was baked.”
(quote 1)
Woman baking bread (c. 2200 BC); Louvre.
A morning like any other. I made breakfast. It was simple but an ancient meal. As I opened the smoked salmon packet my kitten went to an instant crescendo of meowing want. As ancient as this little hungry kitten’s story is, so is this meal I was about to prepare.
I toasted two pieces of white bread putting a pat of butter on each. Then entered my active imagination, a whisper from my ancestors sharing with me a story.
I placed crumbled buttermilk blue cheese and sliced smoked salmon on the toasted bread. All this was placed on a plate. Next came an even more ancient tradition and ritual.
I dripped in a spiral olive oil around and over the two pieces of bread with blue cheese and salmon. Then I dripped a spiral of sweet vinegar in the opposite direction over my meal. Seasoning it all with salt and pepper. Sometimes I put a bit of maple syrup but not today.
Olive oil represents the universe, and the sweet vinegar spiral the counter aspect of life. The worlds of our ancients who lived before us knew about these contraries too.
I envision a scene of my mother telling me about her father making this same dish for her as a child.
“The salmon is an important creature in several strands of Celtic mythology and poetry, which often associated them with wisdom and venerability. In Irish folklore, fishermen associated salmon with fairies and thought it was unlucky to refer to them by name. In Irish mythology, a creature called the Salmon of Knowledge plays key role in the tale The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn. In the tale, the Salmon will grant powers of knowledge to whoever eats it and is sought by poet Finn Eces for seven years.”
(quote 2,3)
An old Gaelic recipe from Cornwall by the Celtic Sea handed down from the Romans by way of Egypt and firstly the Sumerians.
“The sagub-vat and lamsari-vat made a bubbling noise for her.
They prepared gag-bread in date syrup for her.
Flour, flour in honey, beer at dawn.
They pour wine and honey for her at sunrise.”
(quote 4)
Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth.
Image taken from the book by Diane Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer
Her stories and hymns from Sumer.
Quotes:
- Arzani A.: Emmer (Triticum turgidum spp. dicoccum) flour and breads. In Preedy V.R., Watson R.R., Patel V.B. (Eds. 2011), Flour and Breads and their Fortification in Health and Disease Prevention, Academic Press, California, pp. 69-78.
- Ní Fhloinn, Bairbre (2018). Cold Iron Aspects of the occupational lore of Irish fishermen. University College Dublin. pp. 105–123. ISBN 978-0-9565628-7-6.
- “The Salmon of Knowledge. Celtic Mythology, Fairy Tale”. Luminarium.org. 18 January 2007. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
- Pg. 106. Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth. Dine Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer
