[Sca-cooks] Fw: [MR] gum arabic versus gum tragacanth

[jenne at fiedlerfamily.net]

> > As one who plays with late period candy making, can
> > anyone show me a detailed discussion of the
> > differences between gum arabic and gum tragacanth?
> > I've had at least one cooking laurel tell me they're
> > the same and other cooks who tell me they aren't.

Gum tragacanth and gum arabic are quite different. When you add water to
gum arabic, you get a sort of slime if you wait long enough. However,
adding water to gum tragacanth gets you a jellylike substance that expands
greatly. Sez the venerable Encyclopedia Britannica: "Some plant gums,
such as gum  arabic, dissolve in water to give clear solutions. Other
gums, such as gum tragacanth, form mucilages by the absorption of large
amounts of water."

Gum Tragacanth is often called gumdragon in period sources.

Oxford English Dictionary sez:
"Tragacanth   1. A .gum. or mucilaginous substance obtained from
several species of
Astragulus (see 2), by natural exudation or incision, in the form of
whitish strings or flakes, only partially soluble in water: see quot.
1875. Used in medicine (chiefly as a vehicle for drugs) and in the
industrial arts. Also a similar substance obtained from Sterculia
Tragacantha of W. Africa.    a. Commonly called gum tragacanth."

"gum arabic, which is exuded by certain species of Acacia, and arabic
acid, obtained from it."

Two different species of trees!


-- Pani Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika   jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
"I know. You know I know. I know you know I know. We know Henry knows, and
Henry knows we know it. *smiles* We're a knowledgable family." -- _Lion in
Winter_