[Sca-cooks] Re:17th century French breadmaking

[Terry Decker]

What we are talking about is Saccharomyces cerevisiae, baker's yeast.  In 
other words, thou shalt not yeast thy bread with ale barm.

One needs to keep in mind that ale barm was used primarily in Northern 
Europe (the beer and ale countries) while spontaneous starters are common to 
the Mediterranean countries.

Bear

> I'm not sure what distinction Bear (or the French government) is drawing: 
> a "continuous use starter" won't work to raise bread unless it contains 
> yeast.  Now, whether it contains dried or compressed yeast from a company 
> like Fleischmann or Red Star, or the baker's own years-old culture of 
> yeast and other microorganisms, or yeast from ale barm, is another story. 
> (BTW, Thom Leonard mentions the same French law, but he doesn't explain 
> clearly exactly what was outlawed.)
>
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>
> -- 
>                                     John Elys