The decline of Iraqi bread

I ran across a story about bread-making in Iraq. It provides a kind of snapshot of Iraqi thinking regarding the state of their nation.

Basra, Sept 19, (VOI) - Iraqi bread, formerly known for its delicious taste and whiteness, is now getting darker day by day, leading some to liken it to the days the Iraqis are passing through. In past decades Iraqis were proud of having their bread baked at home using baking furnaces called "tannours." However, as modernism invaded most Iraqi cities this tradition started to diminish.
(read the rest at Aswat Aliraq)

I wonder what makes the bread darker other than mixing the grains, and I wonder if the whiteness of the bread was linked to bleached flour.


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