SC - Leavening for Breads and Cakes
willow at dowco.com
willow at dowco.com
Mon Apr 14 23:07:02 PDT 1997
Dearest Lor Mandrigal of Mu:
Joy, rapture, huzza's - finally there is something I know a little
about! I can finally impart some knowledge to someone else, since I
have been soaking up learned discourses for the last few weeks, much
like a sponge.
There are a couple of ways that were used to make breads without the
introduction of processed yeast. One is the use of a potato starter. I
must admit, I don't know the details of this one, but I know where I can
find them, so will post tomorrow.
Yeast left from brewing, either ale or wine, was also used, at least in
the historical books I have on English, Scot, Irish and Welsh baking in
the period from the 11th to 16th century. I have no reason to think
that the same procedure wasn't used in the rest of the world. I don't
think that I would like to bake with the lees of brewing, though. But
again, maybe that is only my taste.
A sponge was also made and left to sit out for a day or two (much like
sourdough) to collect wild yeasts. It works well, but again, it is much
like sourdough.
The French did - and still do - use something called a levain. It is a
pc of dough kept from the last batch of bread and used to introduce
yeast into another batch of dough. Mind you, it takes 3 days to make a
loaf of bread. I day to culture the levain; one day to make the sponge
and then, the third day to bake the bread. But what heavenly, crusty
bread it is. Since I have learned to bake it, I always have levain
handy. It will keep in the regfrigerator for at least 2 weeks (the
longest I have kept it), but it must come to room temperature before
using.
Enough for now. I remain,
Brigid Morgan ap Crawford of Shrewsbury
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