[Sca-cooks] Pea Flour/Bread

[Vladimir Armbruster]

Alright, thats enough for me to start with anyway. :)

I'll let you know what I find, but I'll tell you this.
I *WON'T* be mixing it with anything.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Service to Crown and Society,
Vladimir Armbruster
Headmaster of the House of Willow and Thorn
(http://www.willowandthorn.freeforumhost.net/)
Barony of Aquaterra
(www.baronyofaquaterra.org)
Doting Husband of Sisabella Armbruster
(The 2cnd star to the right holds no such treasure)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Volker Bach" <carlton_bach at yahoo.de>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Friday, July 22, 2005 8:53 AM
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pea Flour/Bread


> Am Freitag, 22. Juli 2005 16:31 schrieb Vladimir Armbruster:
> > Good gentles,
> >
> >     My next experiment (and no, I haven't given up on period sundrieds
yet)
> > is to attempt to bake a few loaves of pea flour bread.  Has anyone here
had
> > any experience on the topic?  I know I could check the Florilegium
(Which I
> > can spell without checking now), but since the list has been quiet,
thought
> > I'd get a conversation going along with that Farmers market one.
>
> I've tried a mix of pea flour and coarse-ground wheat to approximate the
> cheaper grades of souther European breads. It worked fairly well. I'm
still
> looking for victims to test a rye-oat-pea flour mix.
>
> > What I'm looking for is:
> > Can you buy it commercially?
>
> Not hereabouts. The only thing I could found was pease puree, which comes
> pre-seasoned with salt, various herbs and MSG. You might be lucky at
organic
> places. I had to grind split peas in my tabletop handmill.
>
> > How does it bake?
>
> Slowly. It doesn't rise very well (surprise) and holds moisture for a long
> time. I used a commercial courdough starter (I don't bake frequently
enough
> to raise my own) and it ended up reasponably nice, with a dense, soft,
> slightly spongey body and a hard, crunchy crust, but it was still nowhere
> near the light texture of wheat bread.
>
> > What considerations do you need to make in regards to
taste/texture/cooking
> > times?
>
> The pease gave my bread a slightly sweetish aftertaste and made it very
dense
> and thick. It doesn't cut well and can't be crumbled when fresh. And I
found
> that I had to extend cooking times twice, lowering the temperature each
time.
> You may fare well starting at a lower temperature to stop the top crust
from
> hardening too soon (that may be behind part of my batch's refusal to
rise).
> Howeverm I'd also consider folling around with smaller loaves and high
> temperatures, just to see what happens. I've never done it, but I suspect
it
> may result in a crustier, fluffier bread for small, flat loaves.
>
> As to all-pea flour bread, I'm, not sold on the idea. Would it even hold
> together without a mould?
>
> Good project, and please let me know how it turns out. I don't bake often
> enough.
>
> Giano
>
>
>
>
>
>
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