[Sca-cooks] Flour question

[Terry Decker]

High in starch generally suggests low in gluten, so a cake or pastry flour 
would seem to be the best choice.  If you want verisimilitude, you might try 
either Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour or Arrowhead Mills Whole 
Wheat Pastry Flour, but with the caveat that I don't remember how much 
graham is in the mix, which may mean sifting through a fine sieve to get 
what you want.

Bear

----- Original Message ----- 

I am working on the menu for my upcoming A Day in the Middle East feast.
 And I'm having a dandy time going through my new copy of "Annals of the
Caliphs' Kitchens."  In several of the recipes, reference is made to
"...pure, fine *simidh* flour (high in starch and bran-free)...".  The
question is...would this be just a general all-purpose white flour...or
should I use a specialty flour such as bread or cake flour?

Also...and I'm sure we've talked about this before...but please remind me
what I could use in the place of the frequent references to camphor and
musk.  In some places, the reference is to "aromatics" and the two are cited
as examples.  There are a couple of really cool dessert dishes that I'd love
to use but acquiring either of these is a problem...not to mention that I
understand that the musk that's available is a chemical compound used in
perfumes and is poisonous!

Any help you all can render would be appreciated!

Kiri