Q 01/05

The oldest evidence of bread-making, about 14,500 years old, was found in which country?

A) Jordan

B) Turkey

C) Egypt

D) Iraq

Answer · why

A) Jordan

The site belonged to the Natufian culture; grain farming only took off a few thousand years later.

Q 02/05

What two gases produced by yeast fermentation create the air pockets in bread?

A) Oxygen and nitrogen

B) Carbon dioxide and ethanol

C) Hydrogen and methane

D) Carbon monoxide and water vapour

Answer · why

B) Carbon dioxide and ethanol

The alcohol bakes off; the carbon dioxide is trapped by the dough's protein network, which is why bread counts as a foam.

Q 03/05

Which protein complex gives wheat dough its sponginess and elasticity?

A) Casein

B) Albumin

C) Gluten

D) Keratin

Answer · why

C) Gluten

It forms when two insoluble proteins, glutenin and gliadin, link up as flour is mixed with water and kneaded.

Q 04/05

Which species of yeast, also used in brewing, is most commonly used to leaven bread?

A) Brettanomyces bruxellensis

B) Aspergillus oryzae

C) Candida albicans

D) Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Answer · why

D) Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Commercial baker's yeast is a pure culture of it, which gives fast, uniform and reliable results.

Q 05/05

Besides wild yeast, which bacteria ferment a sourdough starter and give it its tang?

A) Lactobacilli

B) Clostridia

C) Streptococci

D) Salmonella

Answer · why

A) Lactobacilli

They produce lactic acid, and in long ferments some acetic acid, the main non-water component of vinegar.