Amazing Ancient Yeast

Date:

A man is in his kitchen. His name is Seamus

Blackley. In front of him is a large, flat
……………………... Blackley covers the
board in a special …………………….... It is
a kind of ……………………...made from a
grain called einkorn. This is one of the oldest
forms of …………………….... Then he takes
a large ball of ……………………... from a
bowl. He begins to push and pull the dough,
kneading it into a round shape. The sweet
smell of bread fills the room. Then, after
some time, he places the dough in an earthen
tagine. And he puts it into a hot place to bake.
The dough begins to bake. Soon it will be a
large ……………………... of bread. 
But this is no ordinary bread. Blackley is
making the bread with ……………………...
grains and ancient methods. But Blackley is
also using a special yeast. The yeast will
make the bread rise or ……………………....
But this yeast is not the kind people normally
use. This yeast is also ancient. Using a special
……………………..., Blackley took the
yeast from Egyptian baking bowls. It is the
same yeast used 4,500 years ago!
Yeast is one of the most important
……………………...ever discovered. People
use it to make bread, alcoholic drinks, and
fermented foods. People have been using
……………………... for almost 10,000
years! Today’s Spotlight is on the history of
yeast. 
……………………... is not an ordinary
ingredient, like ……………………... or
pepper, or sugar or flour. Yeast is a very small
living …………………….... It is a kind of
fungus, related to mushrooms. You cannot see
it unless you look at it through a
…………………….... Yeast feeds on sugars.
When yeast eats these sugars, it produces
alcohol and …………………….... This
process is called fermentation. Carbon
dioxide is what causes bread to rise. And the
alcohol gives bread its special flavour. 
There are hundreds of different kinds of yeast.
Some are ……………………... for making
food. But others do not work as well. One
popular kind of yeast makes a bread called
sourdough. Sourdough has a special, tart
flavour. Other yeasts make alcoholic
…………………….... Koji is a yeast used in
Japan. The Japanese use it to make a drink
called Sake. But there are even yeasts that
people do not use much. These are called wild
yeasts. Humans first started using yeast in
food before people
……………………...writing. Experts think
the first use of yeast was probably an
accident. Wild yeast probably fell into a sweet
drink. And the drink started to
…………………….... When people tasted it,
they found it was good. So, they took some of
the drink, and used it to make more. They
were taking yeast and growing more, though
they did not know it. These were the first
…………………….... 
From this point, yeast began to change.
People began breeding the yeast. If they made
something that they liked, they would repeat
the process. And they started breeding
different yeasts for different things. The yeast
began to specialize. Kevin Verstrepen is a
……………………... at the University of
Leuven. He studies yeast genetics. He spoke
to Science Daily about this process. 
“Sometimes, early brewers had a very good
fermentation. They were smart enough to
……………………...the yeast. They used it
to start the next batch, even if they did not
know what was in it. ……………………...the
yeast to make beer ……………………... it
from nature. The yeasts were changing in the
brewery.”
Remember Seamus Blackley from the
beginning of this program? When Blackley
started making his bread, he was excited
because of these changes. The
……………………... yeast was a lot like
sourdough bread. But what was yeast like
almost five thousand years ago? Blackley did
not know what it would taste like. When he
finally tasted his bread, Blackley wrote on
Twitter about his experience.
“The bread is light and full of air, especially
for a loaf made from these ingredients. The
smell and flavour are ……………………....
It is very different. You can easily tell the
difference, even if you are not excited about
bread.”
The first evidence of people using yeast
comes from China. The ancient Chinese made
a drink called Kui. They used water,
……………………..., rice, and fruit. Drinks
made with yeast had a lot of advantages. Of
course, people liked the effects of alcohol.
But drinks made with yeast were
also……………………...than water. In
ancient times, drinking water could be
…………………….... It could make a person
sick very easily. But alcohol kills many of the
diseases that live in water. So, you could
drink it without getting sick. Many
……………………... used this to their
advantage. In ancient Greece, people mixed
water with strong wine. This killed the
bacteria in the water. And, because it was
mixed, they could drink it most of the day
without being drunk. 
But making foods with yeast also makes them
more delicious and ……………………....
These are fermented foods. The yeast breaks
down sugars that may be difficult to
…………………….... Kefir is a fermented
drink made from milk. It is from Eastern
Europe. For most people, milk is very
difficult to digest after ……………………....
This is because of a sugar called lactose,
which most people cannot digest. But the
yeast in Kefir breaks lactose
…………………….... Because of this, Kefir
has almost no lactose in it. The yeast makes
milk safe for people who cannot drink milk!
Many ancient people also used yeast to help
in food …………………….... Fermenting
foods in this way is called pickling.
Fermenting, or pickling, makes food last
longer. But it also changes the flavor. Kimchi
is one of the most famous
……………………... foods from Korea.
Kimchi is fermented vegetables, usually
cabbage and radish. In ancient times, people
made kimchi so that these vegetables would
last ……………………... the winter. But
soon, people began to make kimchi because
they liked the taste. 
Today, we do not need yeast to clean water or
to ……………………... food. But over the
years, humans have developed a taste for
fermented foods. We eat them now because
we like them! We continue to make them
because they are part of our
…………………….... And they connect us to
people who lived thousands of years ago.
When he made his bread, Blackley wrote on
Twitter:
“This is very exciting. I am so
……………………... that it worked. It is
such a magical thing. We can share food in a
rather genuine way with our distant
……………………...