A lot of rot? Bread rising from 4,500-year-old Egyptian yeast, Thai beef soup stock simmering for 45 years and a 3-century-old French stew – do they come with an expiry date?
There is the slow food movement, but how about old food? Fermentation and ageing may add flavour, others say it’s a lot of rot, but Seamus Blackley, known as the father of the X-Box, reckons there is dough in it
In late 2019, Seamus Blackley, known as the father of the X-Box, and a keen sour dough bread baker and Egyptologist, made bread using a 4,500-year-old yeast, collected from ancient Egyptian ceramic pots once used for beer and bread making. Quite the achievement.
While resurrecting dormant yeasts is not for everyone, there are certainly fans of keeping a dish going for a lengthy time, or keeping something alive and active for as long as possible.
Take the perpetual stew for example. Dating back to medieval times, the stew traditionally consisted of whatever was to hand, with ingredients and liquid continually added before the stew was finished. The flavour was said to get better with age.