Northern Foods was Re: SV: SC - Introducing Myself

[Bonne of Traquair]

><< but they could have developed girdle baked
>  loaves instead, esp. given that rye and barley don't rise as well as 
>wheat.
>
>  Bonne >>
>
>I think the point here is not what they could have developed but, rather,
>what was actually developed. It appears that the method they used to 
>preserve
>grain harvests by prebaking was logical for what they did develop.
>
>Ras

Yes, but until I had the bit of info about the grain not being ripe, the 
bread baking frenzy in the fall seemed really like a silly plan!  Bear's 
suggestion that the ovens would cool to rapidly in winter makes some sense 
as well.  Don't want to use any more fuel than necessary! Ana pointed out, 
rye, barley breads don't stale as fast as wheaten.  Those facts combined 
with the risks involved in leaving the grain until fully ripe make the 
frenzy common sensical.

Bear, I think, posted about the length of days being such that the grain 
would ripen in the shorter number of days.  It may be a case of choosing to 
harvest when the grain and the weather was at a certain stage rather than 
risk waiting a few days or weeks longer.  Nanna says they just didn't have 
much bread in Iceland because the grain didn't have time.  The exact 
reference I got this from was the Scandanavian book of the Time-Life series, 
none of the other books mention it.  then again, none of those provide much 
info at all, just recipes and lots of references to "tradition".

Bonne



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