Everyone has their favorite recipe passed down from earlier generations, but the oldest cookbook in the world actually goes ...

Bread Credit: Canva Bread dominated the Roman diet. Archaeologists have uncovered a wide range of bread types—from soft loaves to dense barley rounds—in ovens and waste layers across Roman cities.

They made a bappir, a barley bread used in ancient Mesopotamian beer brewing that is comparable to a sourdough starter. While stirring the barley mash, both groups added date syrup to flavor the brew.

The pieces were covered in intentional “rough impressions,” researchers said. The grooves would allow food, like bread, to come off the tray easier after it was baked, previous research found.