Leavened bread was perhaps first made by the Chinese ;
it was understood by the Egyptians, from whom the art of
making it proceeded through the Greeks to the Eomans.
Leaven held its ground almost everywhere down to our
present century, when it was superseded in countries with
advanced culture by the yeast of breweries and distilleries.
For leaven is inferior to yeast, inasmuch as it acts slowly,
and gives rise to high-coloured products, which make the
bread dark, heavy, and acid.
The bearing of cereals, particularly of their purified meal
or flour, in the process of fermentation by leaven or yeast is
a compound process, which is governed by reactions between
the several components and the ferment, or in the case of
leaven several distinct ferments. To appreciate this bear-
ing, and to be able to govern all its details, the baker, no
less than the cook, must have a knowledge of the ingredients
of his cereal materials, or, in other words, he must know
the composition of the flour he intends to use. We will
pass them in review as briefly as we can.
Ihe Scotch mendicant, or poor vagrant, carried some flour in a bag,
and kneaded the dough for eating in a corner of his plaid. In Polish inns
omelettes were not rarely mixed in the apron of the hostess, and then
poured into the pan for frying.
372
THE SPIRIT OF COOKERY
Of the constituents of cereals we have to deduct the ivater
as inert for nutrition, and the cellulose as in the main indi-
gestible hy man. The following are the ingredients serving
for nutrition :
1. The Carbo-hydrates. — These are the starches, gums,
and sugars. The plurals indicate varieties, e.g., of starch ;
for the starch of wheat differs greatly from, e.g., that of
barley.
2. The Fats. — These, after eliminating phosphatides, are
present in small quantities, except in maize or oats, which
are rich in oil.
3. The Phos2>hatides are organic substances containing
phosphoric acid and nitrogen ; their compounds and modi-
fications are essential constituents of all nuclei of cells, and
as such prominent ingredients of brain and nerve tissue and
of seeds. Phosphatides in flour are of importance in all the
culinary processes to which flour is subject ; they are govern-
ing ingredients of eg-yolks, as will be more particularly
shown under the chapter which treats of eggs. By decom-
position they yield neurin, glycero-phosphoric acid, and
fatty acids of various kinds.
4. The Albuminoids, or substances similar to albumin, the
white of egg, or such as those of which the blood and tissues
of animals are constructed. They are termed flesh-formers,
while the fats and carbo-hydrates are termed heat-givers.
Both probably yield heat as well as mechanical energy by
their combustion in the body.
5. The Mineral Matters, or Salts, Alkalies, Earths, and
Acids. — These are found as ash on combustion of the
organic matter.
The carbo-hydrates occurring in cereals are starch and
dextrine, cane-sugar (sucrose) and maltose, ' dextrose and
levulose. They are called carbo-hydrates because in them
hydrogen and oxygen are found present in the same pro-
portion as in water, and when all this water is deducted
CARBO-HYDRATES OF FLOUR
373
pure carbon only is left. The process by which starch is
converted into dextrine and maltose and ultimately sugar,
consists in a breaking up into more simple compounds.
Page 235
Presented as published in 1895. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Leavened bread was perhaps first made by the Chinese ; it was understood by the Egyptians, from whom the art of making it proceeded through the Greeks to the Romans. Leaven held its ground almost everywhere down to our present century, when it was superseded in countries with advanced culture by the yeast of breweries and distilleries. For leaven is inferior to yeast, inasmuch as it acts slowly, and gives rise to high-coloured products, which make the bread dark, heavy, and acid.
The bearing of cereals, particularly of their purified meal or flour, in the process of fermentation by leaven or yeast is a compound process, which is governed by reactions between the several components and the ferment, or in the case of leaven several distinct ferments. To appreciate this bearing, and to be able to govern all its details, the baker, no less than the cook, must have a knowledge of the ingredients of his cereal materials, or, in other words, he must know the composition of the flour he intends to use. We will pass them in review as briefly as we can.
The Scotch mendicant, or poor vagrant, carried some flour in a bag, and kneaded the dough for eating in a corner of his plaid. In Polish inns omelettes were not rarely mixed in the apron of the hostess, and then poured into the pan for frying.
Of the constituents of cereals we have to deduct the water as inert for nutrition, and the cellulose as in the main indigestible hy man. The following are the ingredients serving for nutrition :
1. The Carbo-hydrates. — These are the starches, gums, and sugars. The plurals indicate varieties, e.g., of starch ; for the starch of wheat differs greatly from, e.g., that of barley.
2. The Fats. — These, after eliminating phosphatides, are present in small quantities, except in maize or oats, which are rich in oil.
3. The Phosphatides are organic substances containing phosphoric acid and nitrogen ; their compounds and modifications are essential constituents of all nuclei of cells, and as such prominent ingredients of brain and nerve tissue and of seeds. Phosphatides in flour are of importance in all the culinary processes to which flour is subject ; they are governing ingredients of egg-yolks, as will be more particularly shown under the chapter which treats of eggs. By decomposition they yield neurin, glycero-phosphoric acid, and fatty acids of various kinds.
4. The Albuminoids, or substances similar to albumin, the white of egg, or such as those of which the blood and tissues of animals are constructed. They are termed flesh-formers, while the fats and carbo-hydrates are termed heat-givers. Both probably yield heat as well as mechanical energy by their combustion in the body.
5. The Mineral Matters, or Salts, Alkalies, Earths, and Acids. — These are found as ash on combustion of the organic matter.
The carbo-hydrates occurring in cereals are starch and dextrine, cane-sugar (sucrose) and maltose, ' dextrose and levulose. They are called carbo-hydrates because in them hydrogen and oxygen are found present in the same proportion as in water, and when all this water is deducted
CARBO-HYDRATES OF FLOUR
pure carbon only is left. The process by which starch is converted into dextrine and maltose and ultimately sugar, consists in a breaking up into more simple compounds.