[Sca-cooks] Anise and Bread - Pliny Re: The benefits of Anise

[euriol]

I found another reference for a bread recipe with anise in the bread... I
only have an english translation:

Translation: by Andrew Dalby
White Bread Bread made from wheat is the best and most nutritious of all
foods. Particularly if white, with a moderate use of yeast and salt, the
dough kneaded midway between dryness and rawness, and with a little anise,
fennel seed and mastic, it is very fine indeed. One with a hot constitution
should include sesame in the dough. If wishing to add more moistness to the
bread, knead in some almond oil. 
-Dalby, Andrew, Flavours of Byzantium, Great Britain: Prospect Books, 2003 

I have yet to find a transliteration of the original recipe. I tried this
the first time with caraway, because I didn't have anise or fennel in my
cabinet and I just wanted to give a try. I found the caraway too strong a
flavor against the use of the white flour. I had not had come across a
recipe before for mastic either, and after my first time trying this recipe
looked for a source. Now I have some mastic, is it supposed to be ground to
a powder or possibly dissolved in something? I've never used this
ingredient before. But, I do look forward to playing with this recipe more.

Euriol

On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:16:16 -0600, "Terry Decker"
<t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net> wrote:
> More precisely, "...seeing that the seed is held in esteem as a most
> agreeable seasoning for bread."
> 
> Pliny, The Natural History, Book XX chap. 71
> 
> And, "Both green and dried, it is held in high repute, as an ingredient
in
> all seasonings and sauces, and we find it placed beneath the undercrust
of
> bread."
> 
> Pliny, The Natural History, Book XX chap. 72
> 
> While it may have been in the bread, as caraway in rye, I think it likely
> this was on the crust in the manner of poppy seeds or sesame seeds.
> 
> Bear
> 
>> The Roman Pliny mentioned it in bread.
>  > --
>> -- Jenne Heise / Jadwiga Zajaczkowa
> 
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