Bakery
A bakery (aka, baker's shop or bake shop) is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cakes, pastries, and pies.[1] Some retail bakeries are also cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish to consume the baked goods on the premises.
Specialities
Some bakeries provide services for special occasions (such as weddings, birthday parties, anniversaries, or even business events) or for people who have allergies or sensitivities to certain foods (such as nuts, peanuts, dairy or gluten). Bakeries can provide a wide range of cakes designs such as sheet cakes, layer cakes, tiered cakes, and wedding cakes. Other bakeries may specialize in traditional or hand made types of bread made with locally milled flour, without flour bleaching agents or flour treatment agents, baking what is sometimes referred to as artisan bread.[1]
Commercialisation
Grocery stores and supermarkets, in many countries, now carry prepackaged or pre-sliced bread,cakes, and other pastries. They can also offer in store baking and basic cake decoration.[2] Nonetheless, some people may still prefer to get their baked goods from a small artisan bakery, either out of tradition, for the availability of a greater variety of baked goods, or for the higher quality products characteristic of trade of baking.[1]
History
Baked goods have been around for thousands of years. The art of baking was developed early during the Roman Empire. It was a highly famous art as Roman citizens loved baked goods and demanded for them frequently for important occasions such as feasts and weddings etc. Due to the fame and desire that the art of baking received, around 300 BC, baking was introduced as an occupation and respectable profession for Romans. The bakers began to prepare bread at home in an oven, using mills to grind grain into the flour for their breads. Although, the oncoming demand for baked goods vigorously continued and the first bakers’ guild was established in 168 BC in Rome. This drastic appeal for baked goods promoted baking all throughout Europe and expanded into the eastern parts of Asia. Bakers started baking breads and goods at home and selling them out on the streets.
This trend became common and soon, baked products were getting sold in streets of Rome, Germany, London and many more. This resulted into a system of delivering the goods to households, as the demand for baked breads and goods significantly increased. This provoked the bakers to establish a place where people could purchase baked goods for themselves. Therefore, in Paris, the first open-air bakery of baked goods was developed and since then, bakeries became a common place to purchase delicious goods and get together around the world. By the colonial era, bakeries were commonly viewed as places to gather and socialize.[2]
See also
- Baker, a person who produces baked goods
- Cake decorating
- Cake shop
- Coffeehouse
- Konditorei, a German shop that makes, sells and serves cakes, pastries, coffee and tea, in mornings and afternoons
- List of bakeries
- List of bakery cafés
- List of doughnut shops
- Pâtisserie, a French or Belgian establishment that specializes in pastries
- Sliced bread, before bread slicing machines were invented people would buy whole loaves of bread and cut them at home
- Tea house
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bakeries. |
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Look up bakery in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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