[Sca-cooks] The upper crust

[Volker Bach]

It sounds very unlikely to me that a professional baker good enough to serve a noble household would get away with burning his loaves when even amateur reenactors can manage not to. That doesn't mean the image can't come from medieval practices, just that it isn't likely that simple. I know from reading about German practice that crust in general was not the preferred part. Bread was baked very thoroughly, leaving a low moisture content. The 'upper crust' were served smaller and finer loaves than the general public rather than different parts. Expensive breads were always smaller, often a handy size to make a single meal (many weck and schönroggen).  

One suspicion remains with me, though: That the 1460 quote may have served as the basis for a Victorian interpretation that then became common currency. People were fond of education and relished obscure knowledge, especially if it taught them how superior to others they were. Victorian publicists would have loved this. It's right up there with Roman vomitoria.
 

    Susan Lord <lordhunt at gmail.com> schrieb am 21:24 Montag, 12.Dezember 2016:
 

 My research goes from 13th century Spain until 1474, the death of Henry IV of Castile. 
Occasionally, I bring English references into my work such as trenchers but I have never heard of this, nor do I have any references to burned bread until the Great Fire of London!

What is your reading? Are the quotes below valid?


> On Dec 10, 2016, at 08:13, Beverly Walker <peacockwalk at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Quartz <http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?s=e8a6ba66e69a2e177132ad16d38e9c0a&u=29546>  
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> If recent programs on UK TV History are to be believed, then it's a reference to those who were served the upper parts of bread loaves, as the bottom of the loaf would have burnt bits. IIRC on the TV show they sliced the bottom off and cut the rest of the loaf in three. The servants got the bottom bit.
> 
> The bread was divided according to status. The workers would get the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family would get the middle and guests  would get the top, or the "upper crust".
> Although an admonition to "Kutt the upper crust [of a loaf of bread] for your soverayne" can be found in a 1460 work, the term 'upper crust' didn't come to be used figuratively to refer to persons of the higher classes until the 19th century. Many have speculated that the phrase "upper crust" originated with a custom of slicing the choice top portion off a loaf and presenting it to the highest-ranking guests at the table, but there is no documentary evidence supporting this as the phrase's actual origin.
> 
> The Word Detective <http://www.word-detective.com/080401.html#uppercrust>:
> 
> Quote:
> The term "upper crust," referring literally to the upper portion of a loaf of bread, is indeed very old, dating back to at least 1460. Subsequent instances of "upper crust" included its figurative use as a synonym for the surface of the earth (1555) and as slang for, believe it or not, a hat (1826).
> 
> But the metaphorical use of "upper crust" in its modern sense of "the aristocracy or the wealthy class" seems, as Mr. Bryson says, to have first occurred in early 19th century America, and was widespread enough by 1848 to be included by John Bartlett in his seminal "Dictionary of Americanisms" published that year. And the term simply refers to the "upper layers" of society in an economic sense, not to the perceived superiority of any portion of a loaf of bread. 
> 
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> ~~~

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