SC - OT rye verses pumpernickle

[pat fee]

  This is very good imformation.  Sometimes a dark loaf was made for a 
"feast loaf" to be stuffed with a light colored filling.  The dark crust of 
the bread being a constrast.  This was achieved by brushing a dark ale and 
butter or in later times dark beer over the crust as it was bakeing

Lady Katherine McGuire
>From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
>Reply-To: sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG
>To: "'sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG'" <sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG>
>Subject: RE: SC - OT rye verses pumpernickle
>Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 16:13:00 -0500
>
>What do you mean by dark?  I can get a dark brown from whole meal rye.  Or 
>a
>light to medium brown from whole meal wheat. I'm certain a medieval baker
>could get the same.  What I have not been able to reproduce is the black of
>a modern pumpernickel loaf.
>
>It is likely the darkest loaves in the Middle Ages were adulterated with 
>nut
>flour or ground legumes.  In general, the bread of choice was fine wheat
>bread, as white as possible, and brown breads were for the less affluent.  
>I
>haven't tried these flours yet, but it is an idea for what to do with the
>leftover walnuts from the Christmas baking.  It may also be that I haven't
>been able to get the right grade of dark, whole meal rye flour, but I doubt
>it.
>
>I suspect that the coffee, cocoa and black molasses business is of 19th
>Century origin to produce those healthy peasant breads and restore the
>vitality of the good burghers.
>
>In general, the way to get a darker loaf is to use a coarse, whole meal
>flour from dark grain and don't bolt out the germ.  The oils in the germ
>tend to make the crumb bake darker.  Using dark syrups for sweetner seem to
>help darken bread, but that is probably from the complexity of the sugars,
>rather than the color of the sweetner.  Also I don't see a medieval baker
>wasting much sweetner on an inexpensive loaf.
>
>Thanks for making me think about that.  I may be able to get a natural 
>black
>loaf yet.
>
>Bear
>
>
> > By this presumption, that cocoa or molasses are oft added to 
>pumpernickel,
> >
> > than their is no period dark bread?  Other than adding honey or 
>mead/mash
> > to
> > bread how would period dark bread have been made.
> >
> > Frederich
> >
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