[Sca-cooks] Shortbread was Period Flour Query
terry l. ridder
terrylr at blauedonau.com
Sat Feb 10 09:39:30 PST 2007
On Fri, 9 Feb 2007, David Friedman wrote:
>
> Incidentally, does anyone have a good explanation of why you bake the
> flour first?
>
the manual for army cooks, 1883 and 1896 editions mention to brown the
flour used to thicken drippings for gravy. my brother and i experimented
with this back in 1995. the browning of the flour definitely removes the
flour taste and imparts a slightly nutty flavor. a side-effect is that
the gravy is not lightened by the use of plain white flour.
my brother, a military historian, also thinks based on anecdotal and
comtemporary writings of enlisted solders and quartermasters, that it
may have been recommended to kill off any parasitic infestations in the
flour.
--
terry l. ridder ><>
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