Re(2): SC - Bread

[lwperkins]

Gretchen M Beck wrote:

> Philip & Susan Troy at asan
> > Well, the evidence suggests that white bread as we know it today
> > probably didn't exist until around the 18th-19th centuries. White bread
> > in period would have been made from whole wheat flour with much of the
> > larger particles of bran sifted out. That still leaves the particles too
> > small to be caught in the bolting cloth. Even if you allow for some
> > natural bleaching of the flour to occur, as, say,  it sits in a
> > not-quite-airtight container between grinding and use, I suspect it
> > still wouldn't have been likely to get any lighter in color than the
> > lighter commercial whole-wheat breads such as Roman Meal.
> >
> 
> That depends on where you are.  Sicily, for example, was known in period
> for it's white bread--a description I can't imagine coming from anything
> close to Roman Meal colored.  I think golden is more what you're looking
> for, as most of the natural oil in the wheat (which is removed in modern
> milled wheat) remained--this is the color you get from semolina, for
> example.

You're right; I shouldn't make generalizations. The color I was
referring to, though, is a pale beige, like cafe au lait. Just a bit
paler than Wonder Whole Wheat. I was thinking in terms of the "white"
bread of Northern Europe through most of period. Possibly the wheat oils
have something to do with it. 

However, semolina is made from several varieties of wheat, some of which
are whiter/yellower than others. Certainly the yellow  color was
considered a sign of quality. I remember reading somewhere that it was
dyed with saffron or some other herbal derivative. It is today, I know.

Adamantius 
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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