SC - Apicius site

[Decker, Terry D.]

helen wrote:
> 
> <snip>
> Thanks to Bear for the info on bulgur and hard/soft wheat.  Did anyone
> else have more opinions or evidence on the question of whole wheat
> berries vs physically-smashed-in-some-form ones being what period
> upper-class diners would expect?
> <snip>
> 
> Would someone please forward me this answer?  I somehow missed it and I am at my
> parents, so can't go back on my computer and look it up.  helen at directlink.net
> 
> Thanks,
> Helen

It's your call.

The recipes mostly seem to suggest semi-whole wheat berries. They are
bruised to remove the husk/chaff, bran, etc., but seem otherwise to
start out whole, then are cooked until they burst and the pottage
thickens,  giving a thick starchy porridge with shreds of fibrous stuff
from the wheat grains. Then you thicken it further with egg yolks, normally.

Recipes vary as to other details, but the basic idea seems to be that
the whole berries will break up in the cooking, and pre-broken grains
cook faster, so the end result will be, to some extent, the same,
whether you go with some kind of cracked-wheat/bulgur product or whole
wheat berries, except that the bulgur method will be significantly
faster (probably something like 1/4 the cooking time) and since the
thick starchy goop will be sitting pressed against the bottom of a big
pot for less time, the likelihood of burning is reduced.

Whether or not there will be a signifcant flavor difference between
unprocessed versus processed grains, as there definitely is in things
like oatmeal, is  a matter of opinion (with the exception of oatmeal,
where it is empirical fact). Yes, I'm kidding about the oatmeal. I
suggest you try both methods and decide for yourself which you like
better and which is more practical for your needs.
   
I really don't think it will make too much difference, other than that
_you'll_ know you did it the really really period way, which, if
something goes wrong, won't be much consolation.

If this is for your wedding, I think you'll have lots of more important
things to think about than furmenty, and suggest, with respect, you do
it the easiest possible way for this occasion.

Adamantius (who was forbidden to cook for his own wedding)
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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