Cheep and filling - was Re: SC - Lefse/hleifr

[Decker, Terry D.]

> >As a final comment, the way I read this, the rye referred to is the grain
> >and the flour is rye flour.  No other flours or grains are mentioned.
> This
> >matches the historians opinion that rye was the common grain of the
> north.
> >Since this is a cook book for households, it suggests that other grains,
> >such as wheat, may have been expensive or difficult to obtain.  If there
> are
> >other recipes in the cookbook which use different flours, it may be that
> >other grains were just hard to find.  If no other flours appear in the
> >cookbook, then prohibitively expensive is a strong contender.
> >
> >Bear
> 
> 
> for those intrested, there is a copy of the Domostroi in english now, and
> lists alt, rye, wheat and oats as grains avaliable in the time of Ivan the
> Terrible. Granted that's right at the end of period, but considering that
> it's Russian it's probably a bit behind the times.
> 
> Anya
> 
The question is not necessarily what was available, all grains, including
maize, were available in Europe by the time of this Danish cook book.  The
questions are, what grains were available to the Danish householder who
would use this cook book and how they were used.  Rye is obvious.  I would
expect oats to be available, but that might be left out of the cook book on
the basis it was animal fodder.  I also know that some wheat was grown in
Denmark, but it is not mentioned in re, bread.  This suggests immediate
availability to wheat was limited.  If there are no recipes containing wheat
flour, this may indicate that the grain was too expensive for the average
householder.

The fact that Russia produced these grains in the half century before the
Danish cook book does not demonstrate that the Danes also produced these
grains.  The primary grain producing regions of Russia are further south
than Scandinavia.  Also, the fact that they were produced, doesn't tell much
about how they were used.

Bear

  
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