[Sca-cooks] Pasta making and baking with semolina flour

[Stefan li Rous]

Gianotta asked:
 >>>
I have a question for the bakers on this list. I have a couple of
pounds of semolina flour acquired from the local Indo-Pak store. My
thought was to try and use it to bake some Southern Italian-Sicilian-
style breads. Can this type of semolina flour be used for this purpose?
<<<

I thought in our previous discussions here about semolina flour that  
Bear had commented that this didn't make good bread, hence one of the  
reasons for the popularity of pasta in that region. These files in  
the FOOD-BREAD section of the Florilegium probably have some of those  
conversations:

bread-msg        (220K)  3/23/06    Medieval breads and grains.
flour-msg         (71K) 11/13/04    Types of flour. Sources. Period  
flour.

 >>>
The same thing goes with pasta making. Any advice would be
appreciated! I want to make my husband some ravioli!
<<<

pasta-msg        (103K)  2/22/02    Period pasta. Period references.  
Recipes.
pasta-gnocchi-msg (13K)  8/ 1/01    Period gnocchi pasta. Recipes.
pasta-stufed-msg  (33K)  3/20/01    Period stuffed pasta dishes.  
Ravioli.

And from a later message:
 >>>
Oooh, good point. It seems to be more of a meal. Hmmm, which I guess
it was being sold as thickening agent and for making gruelsof some sort.
<<<

Perhaps polenta?

polenta-msg       (20K) 12/13/05    Period polenta. Wheat and maize  
polenta.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****