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

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Mar 31, 2009, at 6:53 PM, Johnna Holloway wrote:

> 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

I understand borax is sometimes used in small amounts in hand-pulled  
noodles in China, and I think it may appear in some of the wheat-dough  
recipes for mantou in "A Soup for the Qan," although I could be  
remembering that last part incorrectly.

I believe it's roughly akin to baking soda in pH, and it can be used  
industrially as an antifungal, so one possibility is as a yeast  
inhibitor, but for all I know it could have something to do with  
gluten extensibility, hence its use in pulled noodles.

If that's the case, I could see it appearing in bagels for a lighter,  
more elastic dough.

Bear? Tag, you're it.

Adamantius






"Most men worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls,  
when we all ought to worry about our own souls, and other people's  
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			-- Rabbi Israel Salanter