[Sca-cooks] Borax as leavening?

[Lilinah]

It'll be a while until i finish reading "Annals of the Caliphs' 
Kitchens" - i'm working my way through the introductory matter, and 
periodically plunging into the cookbook text and the glossaries.

While taking a plunge, i read that borax was used as a leavening in 
Near and Middle Eastern breads. The recipes often don't specify what 
sort of leavening to use. So i'm curious, never having cooked with 
borax... how does it work? Does it function somewhat like baking soda?
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita

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