[Sca-cooks] researching recipes

[Terry Decker]

>1) I have a recipe that I love, know how to make and want to use.  I am
fairly
>certain that it is period, but I can't prove it.  Suggestions on how to
"work
>backwards" with the documentation?  I can give more specifics as needed.

About the only way one can prove a modern recipe is from period is to find
the period version of the recipe.  If you can't match it to a period source,
the contention is unproven and therefore is speculation.  There is no easy
way to verify such a recipe, you juust have to hunt for a source.

Posting the recipe here may help find a source or further information.

>
>2) Bread.  When subsitiuting sourdough starter for "dry active yeast"  what
is
>a good amount to use? And were can I find a period starter recipe?  I have
>seen them with flour & water  and also flour/milk/sugar combos.
>
>Lady Hrosvitha von Celle

There is no period recipe for starter.  There are only about six European
recipes for bread from the Middle Ages and Renaissance and Platina's is the
only one I remember which uses sourdough.

My recommendation would be mix 1/2 cup of water and 1 cup of flour
(approximately 4 ounces each of water and flour) in a bowl, cover it and let
it stand on the counter for a couple days, then feed it twice a day until
you have enough starter to work with.  The more things you put in the
starter, the further you get from the basics.

Flour isn't sterile, so you will usually find yeast and lactobacilli in it.
Mixing the flour and water starts an amylase reaction which breaks down some
of the starch into simple sugars to feed the yeast which in turn helps to
feed the lactobacillii.  You may not get San Francisco sourdough (whose sour
taste is often produced chemically these days), but you should get a
reasonably flavorful bread.

Use about 1 cup of starter per pound of bread.  Simply forget about the
yeast, and reduce the recipe by 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup of flour to begin
and return them if you find you need them.  Do break up the starter in the
remaining liquid in the recipe before adding the flour.  This helps
distribute the starter evenly through the dough.

Bear