[Sca-cooks] Natron

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Jeff Elder:
>I am on a slow research for chemical leaveners.
>As a start I am looking for the names ancient people would have used for
>them.
>For example Roman's and Egyptians had soda ash for glass production, and may
>have used it in baking.
>I ran across another one today, Natron.
>Was it ever used in baking?  Or can some one point the way?
>I know it is fantastic stuff if I was planning on mummifying some one, but I
>am more interested in baking at this point.
>
>Natron  Na2CO3 (now called baking soda but not exactly the same)
>(baking soda = NaHCO3)
>nahcolite  =  NaHCO3  (just like baking soda)
>Trona      =  Na3(CO3)(HCO3)·2(H2O) = From Arabic origins meaning "natron."
>
>What has started this were discussions about soda ash and it leavening
>properties, and quick breads with their dependence on baking soda to
>flourish.
>It dawned on me just the other day "A Soup for the Qan" has the recipes for
>Poppy Seed buns and they mention specifically using soda in the baking, and
>this version was translated from  1456 edition.  The footnotes of this
>particular recipe make mention how this is a
>common household recipe in use even today in Muslim homes.
>
>[91.] [49B] Poppy Seed Buns
>White flour (five chin), cow's milk (two sheng), liquid butter (one chin),
>poppy seeds (one liang. Slightly roasted)
>[For] ingredients use salt and a little soda and combine with the flour.
>Make the buns.
>
>Ok Another question more learned Muslim cooks and bakers does this recipe
>look like anything you have heard of or made before?
>
>I have run across one brief mention of Natron in cooking:
>Mustard Sauce
>Original:
>To prepare mustard: Carefully clean mustard seed, sieve it. Wash in cold
>water. Soak 2 hours. Squeeze by hand. Put in a mortar and grind. Put in a
>few glowing coals, pour water with natron over it, so bitterness is removed.
>Pour off all the liquid. For banquets add pine nuts and almonds, grind
>together thoroughly. Then add vinegar. Mix and strain.
>[ ----- Columella, de Re Rustica, 12, 57, edited]
>
>Thank you for any time and assistance in this.
>
>Simon Hondy

I remember reading somewhere that the Roman cooking soda is sodium 
carbonate, commonly known as washing soda.

Adamantius

-- 




"S'ils n'ont pas de pain, vous fait-on dire, qu'ils  mangent de la 
brioche!" / "If there's no bread to be had, one has to say, let them 
eat cake!"
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Rousseau, "Confessions", 1782

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