SC - Italian cookbook

[ND Wederstrandt]

Nick Sasso(fra niccolo) wrote:
> 
> > Various cooking sodas (esp. sodium carbonate, commonly known today as
> > washing soda) were in use in Roman cookery, although apparently not as a
> > leavening for baking.
> 
> Are you certain of this?  I checked the box of washing soda (Na2CO3) I use as
> a caustic cleaner in brewing, and find it to be 'harmful if swallowed'.  Is it
> bicarbonate of soda {2Na(HCO3)} (what we call baking soda) that you refer
> to?  Please give me a reference for the washing soda so I can double
> check before using it in food products.
> 
> fra niccolo
> 
> Arm and Hammer (TM) gave me the chemical formulas for their products saying
> they come from the same mineral, but have different refining processes.

Fairly certain...I can't find the reference right now, but will look
when I can. I believe it's somewhere in the Flower/Rosenbuam Apicius
translation. I can only point out that numerous ingredients appear in
old recipes that are now considered harmful if swallowed, especially
when the modern manufacturer is trying to avoid lawsuits. The issue of
quantity / proportions is also significant. Is this any more surprising
than the fact that the Romans sometimes cooked in lead pots?

Adamantius
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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