Nowadays, we tend to think of focaccia bread as a quintessential part of Italian cuisine, right next to various pasta and pizza dishes. But while this crunchy, oily, garlicky bread has sustained people on the Apennine Peninsula for centuries, dating back to the founding of Rome, its true origins go back even further.

To between 7,000 and 5,000 B.C.E., to be exact. That’s the age attributed to clay husking trays discovered near Mazraa, Teleilat, Akarçay Tepe, and Tell Sabi Abyad—in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East, where human civilization is thought to have originated—and according to a new study published in Scientific Reports, they were originally used to (you guessed it) bake focaccia.

“This research project,” the authors announced in their abstract, “not only further strengthens the theory that husking trays could have been used for baking, but also provides insights into the variety and elaboration of food practices that existed amongst early agricultural communities, demonstrating the existence of a number of different ‘recipes’ for a particular dish.”

Archaeological fragments analyzed in this research project. Photo: Scientific Reports.

Studying the trays, the researchers learned a surprising amount about the recipes they were used for. Analysis of partially fossilized residue on the inside of the trays suggests the breads were made with wheat or barley, and baked for two hours (longer than the 20 to 30 minutes recommended today) at a temperature of 420 degrees Celsius.

Along the way, the researchers also found residues of animal fat and plant-based seasonings, suggesting the breads were not only made for sustenance, but also for taste. At the same time, the large size of the trays, which would have produced focaccia loaves of up to 3 kilograms or 6.6 pounds a piece, indicates they were baked for large groups rather than individual consumers.

Focaccia loaf baked in a replica of the original husking trays. Photo: Scientific Reports.

While study of the organic residues led to relatively straightforward conclusions, the same could not be said for the repetitive patterns of incisions made on the insides of the trays. To find out what purpose these strange incisions would have served, the researchers created replicas, which, when used in an archaeological bake-off, revealed they made it easier to remove the focaccia loaves from the tray after they finished baking.  

The findings presented in the study say as much about ancient culinary practices as they do about the societies in which those practices were formed. “The use of the husking trays,” the study’s lead author, Sergio Taranto, told Phys.org, “leads us to consider that this Late Neolithic culinary tradition developed over approximately six centuries and was practiced in a wide area of the Near East,” adding that their research “offers a vivid picture of communities using the cereals they cultivated to prepare breads and ‘focaccias’ enriched with various ingredients and consumed in groups.”