Hello!
I am new to the list and have been enjoying the recipes and information
presented here.
I wonder if anyone can help me with a question about flour. I have recently
acquired a very old family recipe for Irish Brown Bread from an elderly woman
in Ireland. Tessie's recipe calls for Strong White Flour and I'm not certain
what the closest American equivalent is.
As I understand it, the climate in Ireland is not ideal for hard wheat and
Irish flours are made from soft wheat. Would Strong White Flour, if made
from soft wheat, have a high or low gluten content? Her bread had an
extremely tender bite to it, no toughness whatsoever, which would make me
think that it was made with a lower gluten flour. I made her recipe with all
purpose flour and it was definitely tougher than when I was served this bread
in Tessie's kitchen in County Cavan, Ireland.
I found many Irish, English and Scottish recipes that call for Strong White
Flour but no definitive description of what type of flour it is. I did find
one website that vaguely compared it to cake flour or pastry flour, but I
couldn't verify this information anywhere else.
Any ideas on the closest American equivalent to Strong White Flour would be
much appreciated!
Myth