[Sca-cooks] Turkish delight

[Terry Decker]

> This is what Europeans thought for centuries, since outside of a few rare 
> medieval recipes wheat starch was not used in cooking. Hans Dernschwam in 
> 1553 called it "strong flour" since there was no German word for it. In 
> the 18th century wheat starch was known as "hair powder", since its only 
> use was for powdering wigs. By the 19th it was used for stiffening linen 
> and eventually returned to uses in cuisine.
>
> Urtatim (that's oor-tah-TEEM)


This may be a questionable assertion about Dernschwamm.  The German word for 
starch is "Sta:rke." The German word for strong is "stark."  Both words 
derive from the Old High German "starchi."  Modernly, starch powder is 
"Sta:rkemehl"  and strong flour is "starkes Mehl."  Since the German of 1553 
is not  standardized, it may be difficult to determine precisely what is 
being stated.  1553 is also roughly 100 years after the noun starch comes 
into use in English.  Before I accept the assertion that there was no word 
for starch in German, I'd really like to see the evidence presented.

BTW, the terms Amelmehl (emmer powder)  and Kraftmehl (strong or powerful 
powder) have also been used to refer dialectically to starch.  Amelmehl is 
sometimes translated as amidon.

Bear