SC - Bean Bread and Brid
Ian van Tets
IVANTETS at botzoo.uct.ac.za
Thu Jul 9 14:35:40 PDT 1998
Yay Brid, congrats, huzzahs and throwing of flowers! When do they
start learning to cook?
As to the bean bread, this might prove useful:
"It is folly to send more corn to the mill than one has present use
for. Wee sende (in winter time) a mette [2 bushels] of massledine
for our own tempsed-bread [passed through a tempse, or coarse hair
sieve] backinge; in the heat of summer wee sende but a bushell,
because it will moulde and bee wasted with long standing. Wee sende
for the browne bread baking (in winter time) a bushell of rye; a
bushell of pease and a bushell of barley; and afore wee putte it in
the poake, wee make the miller take a besome and sweepe a place, and
pour it onto the grownd, and blende it alltogeather with his hand,
and after that take a scuttle and putte it into the poake; in summer
time wee send but a mette, because it will grow hard with long
standings, viz, a bushell of pease, and a bushell of rye, into which
wee putt a ryinge or two or three of barley. Wee send for our own
pyes a bushell of the best wheat. We send for the folkes puddinges a
bushell of barley, but never use any rye for puddinges, because it
maketh them soe softe that they run about the platters; in harvest
time they have wheate puddinges. The folkes pye crusts are made of
massledine, as our bread is, because that paste that is made of
barley meale cracketh and checketh [splits]. Poore folks putt
usually a pecke of pease to a bushell of rye; and some again two
pecks of pease to a frundell [2 pecks] of massledine, and say that
these make hearty bread. In many places they grinde after-logginges
of wheat for their servants pyes; and fewer there are that grinde
any barley at all for their household use, because it is soe shorte,
and will not abide workinge."
Henry Best, 'Farming Book', 1641 (in Yorkshire)
Having said that, I _like_ barley bread (half and half with wheat) at
camping events - it lasts better. I used to make a mixed grain loaf
of rice, rye, barley, cornmeal, wheat, buckwheat and whatever else
was around. Buckwheat was the only one that wasn't successful by
itself (or half and half with wheat). Have also been trying sorghum
and wheat combined lately. Very like rye in effect. But to date,
not tried pease flour - tho' I do have some in the cupboard...
Cairistiona
*****************************************************
Dr. Ian van Tets
Dept. of Zoology
University of Cape Town
Rondebosch 7701 RSA
ph: +27 +21 650 3641 (w), 650 3301 (fax), 47 5324 (H)
*****************************************************
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