[Sca-cooks] treacle RE: German Breads

[Dragon]

otsisto wrote:
>Long shot here - how about the use of fruit pulp instead of molasses or
>honey, say pounded raisens?
>
>-----Original Message-----
>Treacle and molasses come out of the sugarmaking process, so my argument
>against their use in period German bread is same.  First, sugar is a easily
>transportable, high value good with wide application.  Molasses has less
>value, has limited application, and costs more to ship with greater risk of
>leakage.  Second, quantities of sugar and molasses were limited and
>primarily controlled by the Arabs until the late 15th Century, when supply
>and demand for sugar spiralled upward, leading to rise of the sugar industry
>in the Caribbean during the 17th Century and the decline of the
>Mediterranean sugar trade.  Molasses may have been making its way into the
>German States in the 16th Century, but I think it would have been limited
>and probably meant for use in something like Schwarzbier rather than as a
>bread additive.
>
>Let me say that this is my analysis and interpetation of the situation and
>that I have no direct evidence of the use or non-use of molasses in the
>German States during the 15th and 16th Centuries.
---------------- End original message. ---------------------

I have to agree with Bear, in my opinion the use of sweeteners in rye 
bread is very likely an invention of the 18th Century and most likely 
not something done in period.

I think the quintessential German rye breads are pumpernickel and 
various types of sour rye breads. Many of these are made with 100% 
rye, and in the case of real pumpernickel, coarse rye meal is used, 
not rye flour.

Real, traditional pumpernickel bread (the prototypical German dark 
rye style) is made using only rye meal, yeast, salt and water. It 
gets any sweetness it has from a very long, slow baking process (12+ 
hours) in closed pans in an oven with steam. It is dense, chewy and 
sweet from the extended caramelization, there is NO sugar or molasses 
or any other sweetener added.

Real pumpernickel has no resemblance whatsoever to most of what is 
sold in the U.S. as pumpernickel. You can sometimes find the real 
thing in some ethnic grocers that cater to Jewish customers, Germans 
or Eastern Europeans. There is absolutely no comparison between the two.

There is a gentleman on the rec.food.sourdough newsgroup named 
Samartha Deva who is actively working on traditional German style 
sourdough rye breads including pumpernickel. He has some links to 
references and is quite knowledgeable on the subject.

His sourdough info is on his web site here:

http://www.samartha.net/SD/index.html

His pumpernickel page:

http://www.samartha.net/SD/procedures/PPN01/index.html

Dragon

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