Turkish women reproduce 3,500-year-old Hittite bread using traditional methods

Turkish women reproduce 3,500-year-old Hittite bread using traditional methods
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In the heart of what was once the Hittite Empire, a women’s cooperative in Türkiye’s Corum province is successfully recreating a 3,500-year-old “Hittite bread,” Anadolu Agency reported. The Valide Sultanlar Sofrasi Women’s Cooperative, led by agricultural engineer Tuba Topkara, produces the bread using organic, traditional methods.

The recipe was discovered on ancient Hittite tablets, and the production process was developed with the help of gastronomy teacher Ulku Mensure Solak, a co-author of the book Hittite Cuisine as an Experimental Archaeology Study. The cooperative uses heirloom wheat seeds from local farmers, which are then ground into organic flour using a traditional stone mill. The dough is kneaded in a wooden trough with this flour, along with sourdough starter, rock salt, and spring water. The loaves are baked in a restored stone oven over an oak wood fire.

The project’s goal is to promote this historical bread as a symbol of Corum and share it with the world. Solak emphasizes the bread’s authenticity, noting that it is made with pure, non-genetically modified ingredients and prepared using the exact methods of the ancient Hittites.