[Sca-cooks] Another leavening agent was Baker of Bagels in the 11th C

Johnna Holloway johnnae at mac.com
Tue Mar 31 15:53:36 PDT 2009


Ok while checking in the circa 950 AD
Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens. Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq's Tenth-Century 
Baghdadi Cookbook. English Translation with Introduction and Glossary by 
Nawal Nasrallah.

I came across mention of another leavening agent---

On Page 563 under an entry for khamir /khumra
/Nasrallah writes: "fresh yeast, usually a piece of fully fermented
dough saved from a previous batch. Medieval bakers also used
/buraq/ 'borax' as a leavening agent. Adding generous amounts
of yeast and borax is recommended in making bread because
fully fermented bread is believed to be easier to digest.
(Ibn al-Baytar 228)"

Borax?!?

Johnnae

emilio szabo wrote:
> Johnnae, if you could check the Nasrallah translation and see whether or not there are any recipes for bagel-like things, that would be great. 
> Many thanks, E.




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