Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Bruce Gulland.
Voice 2
And I’m Megan Nollet. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Click here to follow along with this program on YouTube.
Voice 1
A man is in his kitchen. His name is Seamus Blackley. In front of him is a large, flat wooden board. Blackley covers the board in a special powder. It is a kind of flour made from a grain called einkorn. This is one of the oldest forms of wheat. Then he takes a large ball of dough 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 loaf of bread.
Voice 2
But this is no ordinary bread. Blackley is making the bread with ancient grains and ancient methods. But Blackley is also using a special yeast. The yeast will make the bread rise or expand. But this yeast is not the kind people normally use. This yeast is also ancient. Using a special process, Blackley took the yeast from Egyptian baking bowls. It is the same yeast used 4,500 years ago!
Voice 1
Yeast is one of the most important ingredients ever discovered. People use it to make bread, alcoholic drinks, and fermented foods. People have been using yeast for almost 10,000 years! Today’s Spotlight is on the history of yeast.
Voice 2
Yeast is not an ordinary ingredient, like salt or pepper, or sugar or flour. Yeast is a very small living organism. It is a kind of fungus, related to mushrooms. You cannot see it unless you look at it through a microscope. Yeast feeds on sugars. When yeast eats these sugars, it produces alcohol and carbon dioxide. This process is called fermentation. Carbon dioxide is what causes bread to rise. And the alcohol gives bread its special flavour.
Voice 1
There are hundreds of different kinds of yeast. Some are useful 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 beverages. 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.
Voice 2
Humans first started using yeast in food before people invented 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 ferment. 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 brewers.
Voice 1
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 scientist at the University of Leuven. He studies yeast genetics. He spoke to Science Daily about this process.
Voice 3
“Sometimes, early brewers had a very good fermentation. They were smart enough to harvest the yeast. They used it to start the next batch, even if they did not know what was in it. Reusing the yeast to make beer separated it from nature. The yeasts were changing in the brewery.”
Voice 2
Remember Seamus Blackley from the beginning of this program? When Blackley started making his bread, he was excited because of these changes. The Egyptian 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.
Voice 4
“The bread is light and full of air, especially for a loaf made from these ingredients. The smell and flavour are incredible. It is very different. You can easily tell the difference, even if you are not excited about bread.”
Voice 1
The first evidence of people using yeast comes from China. The ancient Chinese made a drink called Kui. They used water, honey, 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 safer than water. In ancient times, drinking water could be dangerous. 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 civilizations 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.
Voice 2
But making foods with yeast also makes them more delicious and healthier. These are fermented foods. The yeast breaks down sugars that may be difficult to digest. Kefir is a fermented drink made from milk. It is from Eastern Europe. For most people, milk is very difficult to digest after childhood. This is because of a sugar called lactose, which most people cannot digest. But the yeast in Kefir breaks lactose down. Because of this, Kefir has almost no lactose in it. The yeast makes milk safe for people who cannot drink milk!
Voice 1
Many ancient people also used yeast to help in food storage. 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 pickled foods from Korea. Kimchi is fermented vegetables, usually cabbage and radish. In ancient times, people made kimchi so that these vegetables would last through the winter. But soon, people began to make kimchi because they liked the taste.
Voice 2
Today, we do not need yeast to clean water or to preserve 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 traditions. And they connect us to people who lived thousands of years ago. When he made his bread, Blackley wrote on Twitter:
Voice 4
“This is very exciting. I am so amazed that it worked. It is such a magical thing. We can share food in a rather genuine way with our distant ancestors.”
Voice 1
Do you use yeast in your diet? What fermented foods do you eat? Do you make any yourself? Tell us about it on our website at www.spotlightenglish.com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Voice 2
The writer of this program was Dan Christmann. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. This program is called: Amazing Ancient Yeast.
Voice 1
Visit our website to download our free official app for Android and Apple devices. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.
Question:
Do you bake bread at home? What kind of bread is your favorite? Do you use yeast when you bake bread? Do you like alcoholic drinks? Do you eat fermented foods? What kind of fermented foods are popular in your country?
He till him I learn English
If these podcasts are for beginners please use simpler words
The scent of bread, made with yeast and cooked in my grandmother’s wood oven, belongs to childhood memories, along with many other memories that cannot be included in this program (fruits from the garden, summer sunrises, the cat, the May flowers).
I loved this episode, and I would like a Cheese around the World podcast
In somewhere places of Mexico use “pulque” like yeast. Pulque bread is very delicious, Its bakering in oven stone with wood. Pulque is a pre hispanic drink fermented of a plant known like “maguey”.
think.you
Not really, it’s hard to bake a bread for me
but i love eat different kind of bread
No, I’m not alcoholic person
Usually we buy fermented foods from supermarkets, Vegetables and olives
and it taste salty but delicious
Yes I bake the bread in my home and use the yeast , usually I’m my country people eat fermented food
Yes i do.
Sudanese bread.
Yes i using yeast most of the time.
No i do not like alcoholic.
No i do not eat fermented foods.
I do not know about the fermented foods in my country.
Good
Yes, my wife sometimes bake bread at home. My favorite bread is the one made from several types of grains, such as malt and millet. We usually use yeast in a kind of bread called Khoobzah. It is a traditional bread in the southern west of Saudi Arabia. I do not like alcoholic beverages.
Yeast is a living organism. Now I see it in powder form. Why?
No , I am not baking a bread at home but, after this voice I will trying to make it.
I like eating “Chapaati” it’s pakistian bread and (not fermented food), it’s made from “atta” flour , salt and water.
No , alcohol drinks in our traditinal it is forbidden.
yes, I eat pickled cucumber, vegatabils and it is very delicious.
We using in our zone some way to preserve a food for several months like meat that cooked in special methods and putting it in extracted fats, I don’t know this way it’s follow a fermented foods or not.
Yes , sometimes i bake with my mum
Any kind
Nope i never use alcoholics
Yup i eat fermented food but not too much
I guess cakes
I bake bread in my home. I made it with yeast. I prefer baguette and flatbread. I don’t admire alcoholic drinks because they have many dangers for our health. In addition, he is forbidden in our religion. In my country we do not have many fermented foods, we just fermented olives and lemon. We can’t eat lemon due to its taste and we use it in our cooking. However, we can eat olives and l admire it.
It is amazing. Incredible moments.Thankyou so much
Yes , I bake bread with my mother. My favourite kind is baguette. Yes, we use yeast to make bread height . No , I don’t like alcohol drinks . We usually eat fermented foods . The popular kind of fermented food in my country is ( mish cheese)
I prefer to bake pizza especially with the quick dough. This is a special recipe of kneeling the dough for pizza which takes only about 10 minutes to rise by the yeast.
As a Muslim alcohol is prohibited for all its disadvantages that can damage our brains and livers.
Hey! I hope u doing well today l learnt new words which it yeast fermentation and expand and more so i’m gonna to do a small praghraphe:
The yeast is an incient ingridient that people use it before more than 10000 years it’s an organism when this orfanism eats sugars it will produce co2 and alchohol
I don’t bake bread at home ever. There is not a certain kind of bread I like it. Yes, we use yeast when we bake bread. I can’t drink alcoholic drinks or taste it becouse of my religion, I am muslim. Yes, I eat fermented food like/such as baked food like a bread. There are many fermented foods in my country such as breads and pickling foods.
Yes bake bread at home, the kind of bread is my favorite it’s Brioche bread. Moreover, l use yeast when l bake bred because it’s important thing to success the recipe. I hate alcoholic drinks because I am muslim and alcohol forbidden in religion islamic. In addion, this drinks causes many problems of health leads to dangerous disseases. Finally, I eat fermented foods and this foods it’s a popular for my country like House bread it’s a traditionnel food in cuontry Algeria this food be present for all occasions and also I love pizza, burger, bread to contain for meat and cheese it’s ala considred of fermented foods.
Yes I use yeast. I bake at home and I love brown bread. I eat fermented food as well
yes i do
my favorite kind of bread is sour Doue
no I’m not alcoholic person
not all time
not much fermented food in my country
my mother make very delicuios beard in oven . we eat bread with meny items like eggs cheas kidney..
it is amazing much of information much voacab thank you so much
You’re welcome!
No I don’t mad a bread because I can’t now how to bake him but I love the different bread because in my country the bread is in our tradition
Hi everyone!!!
I use to bake bread at home, it’s a pleasure for me, getting up in the morning knowing that I have a piece of homemade bread for breakfast to make a toast with wild fruit jam and peanut butter.
I love bread in general, in fact, all my family members except my nephew love eating bread.
I use yeast when I bake bread, my favourite is fresh yeast, I don’t like the dry one or baker yeast that you have to activate first.
I don’t like fermented drinks, I’ve tried kombucha but its taste is not made for me at all. But I eat fermented foods such as kefir or kimchi.
In my country there are fermented products like pickle, chesses, beers….
Thank you for this interesting podcast.
I’ ve baked bread at home with my own yest. I make yest with just flour and water. This take ten days, then I can use to make bread. But, the yeast is make the first time, after we can use the same yeast, just refeed with water and flour.The bread is baked in a iron pan in the hot oven. It taste delicious!
February 24, 2025
I am Severino Ramos, I am from Brazil, and I live in São Paulo City
Dear Dan Christmann, Michio Ozaki, Bruce Gulland, and Megan Nollet
How are you?
Amazing Ancient Yeast
Question number 1 – Do you bake bread at home?
Answer: No, I do not.
I avoid eating bread in general because that kind of food increases our average fat in our body especially into of the abdomen.
Question number 2 – What kind of bread is your favorite?
Answer: My favorite kind of bread is Panetone. Panetone is a kind Christmas bread that is made only Christmas season by Bauduco Company.
Also, they are sold in bakeries and supermarkets. So it is very good bread. It is a delicious bread.
In it there are some good ingredients like dry fruits, wheat, and an incredible flavor. Question number 3 – Do you use yeast when you bake bread?
Answer: No, I do not
I do not know to bake bread. I cannot make bread, bake, and others into the oven. Question number 4 – Do you like alcoholic drinks?
Answer; No, I do not.
I have never drunk alcohol in my life. I do not like alcoholic drinks. Furthermore, I think alcohol was made only to use in cars, motorcycles, as a fuel, and to clean glasses.
Question number 5 – Do you eat fermeted foods?
Answer: Yes, I do.
I usually eat Panetone bread from Bauduco Company on Christmas season. It is a delicious one.
Question number 6 – What kind of fermented foods, are popular in your country? Answer; In my country Brazil there are a lot of kind fermented foods such as bakes, loaf of bread, a lot of Panetone brands in the Christmas season and others. However, my favorite fermented food is Panetone from Bauduco Company.
That one is the best.
I really appreciate it
Stay with God.