After removing all bread from my diet, the day arrived where I wanted to eat some bread.  I was craving bread but, I am unable to tolerate bread including, sourdough bread. I have tried many different types of breads and, still the suffering continued.

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Have you ever experienced pain,  discomfort, extreme gas or, bloating after consuming bread? Does it feel like your intestines are going to explode? Have you come ever so close as to calling 911?

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I asked my Dad, "how did the ancient people make bread without having easy access to wheat or, any packaged yeast?" He explained that bread was not like it is today. That wheat was reserved for the wealthy and, yeast had to be cultured. I went further and, asked "how were these breads baked?" He explained that the majority of the "fourno" that I had grown up seeing all over Cyprus, Greece and, Italy have been there for centuries and, that these were the ovens. I know first hand that these "Fourno" are used even today.

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Dennis set out to build a "fourno". He designed it with the ancient modeling in mind and used all re-purposed materials. He molded it like art. Well, of course, Dennis Kelley is an artist (www.kelleyzart.com).

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After talking to my Dad in depth about ancient bread making techniques, I learned that bread does not have to be made form wheat. It can be made from almost anything. Also that the yeast was actually a wild culture and,  something that should be cultivated locally, from the immediate environment (much like raw honey and, pollen). I found this to be quite interesting.

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I began to culture a variety of foods and, attempt to make different breads. I'm not a baker. I don't even know the basic rules of baking. That is a science best left to those with knowledge and, experience, who know what they are doing. 

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I just wanted to make a bread that was wholesome, healthy, feed my gut microbiomes and, help my intestines to digest food better and, more efficiently. What I knew was that I would not want to use wheat, soy, corn, gluten based flours, no G.M.O's, and, no packaged yeast. Packaged yeast is only one strain and, for my digestion to perform at a peak, it really needs to be symbiotic and, of course, a healthy variety of active strains.

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So much time went by and, I really had a hard time with figuring this out. One day during the summer, I was cleaning out my freezer and, my friend Jessica asked me "what's that, the stuff in that Ziploc?" I replied, "oh, that's just some stuff my grandma gave me before I came back to the States from Cyprus, in 1987.  Jessica was curious and, I explained further that my grandma would make breads and, pastries from it. Since I did not know how to bake, I never used it, just saved it. 

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After all the research, and family conversations that I dove into about this stuff; itturns out that the bag sitting in my freezer for a couple of decades could have Originated from 5th Century BC (Athens). How wild is this?  This stuff is an aged wild culture! Okay, but is it still good? How do I find out? What if t's dead or, spoiled? That's when the testing began. 

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I may not understand baking but, I know a few things about bacteria and, culturing bacteria. So I set off to do what I know. I understand that it's not enough to consume just probiotica but, it's critical to consume enough prebiotica to help the process along. After conducting a multitude of experiments, I concluded that even when these microbes where fed a high gluten diet in the form of High Gluten, Pizza Wheat-Flour, they would fully digest the gluten and, then release it in the form of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and, hydrogen. This process was interesting to me because this meant that in an emergency, wheat flour could be used and when properly fermented and, then cultured, it could make a safe Spartan Loaf. After trial and, error, month after month and, a few years later, It just came together and, it was an experience that has been improving ever since. 

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Another interesting prospective of these particular colonies of wild cultures, thrive with almost any food. When fed rations of fruit or, vegetables that are high in soluble fiber, they breed very quickly and, release carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide release is similar to the effect of sourdough bread but, this culture behaves in an independent manner. This makes it far more sustainable and, more diverse. Diverse because these colonies are powerful enough to thrive in almost any type of food and, not need to be wheat flour. You see, sourdough bread culture is made by mixing wheat flour and, water.

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It turns out that these types of loaves where the nutritious, high protein, high fiber bread-like loaves that the Spartan soldiers would take with them to training and, into battle. These breads where dense and, had to be hydrated with ale or honey mead, because there was a lot of water contamination back then.

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Today, I continue to cultivate an impressive variety of beneficial cultures that I often incorporate into my supplements and, foods. Many of our Rainbow Ranch Farms customers love the "Spartan Loaves" and, as many even have incredible gluten sensitivities and, even celiac disease; they enjoy these nutritious loaves all the time, as I do. The best part is that we enjoy them without ANY adverse reactions. In fact, quite the opposite is true. We feel comfortable, healthy and, even notice a big difference in how well our digestion has improved.  That's what I had been looking for and the icing on the cake is.....THEY TASTE DELICIOUS!

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