>From: Seth Godin <sethgodin@gmail.com>
>Subject: Question about ancient Challah
>Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 12:25:45 -0500
>
>Do you know where I can find a 200 year old recipe for Challah?
>Whole wheat + sourdough, almost certainly, right?
>
>What do you think the bread was like before bleached flour?
>
>Thanks... Seth
Bleached and white flour are not the same thing at all. White flour
has been around since something like the 1500's. It is whole wheat
that was milled and had the big parts sifted out. At that time, the
dangers of white flour were discussed, a trend that continues to this
day. The peasants got the parts that had been sifted out. Today,
those parts are used for animal fodder. Even today, you can get
unbleached white flour. I'm not sure why they have to label it
unbleached, shouldn't they label the other stuff "bleached"?
Flour in 1815 probably had more color, flavor and fiber than we get
in all-purpose or bread flour. However, when you let the white flour
sit for a few months, it self bleaches becoming much whiter, which is
what was done in days of yore.
In 1815, commercial bakers yeast was still a ways in the future, so
it would have been made with sourdough or barm (barm is mostly an
English thing).
By the 1800's white flour had largely won the war, so Challah would,
more likely than not, have been made with white flour. Just not
bleached white flour.
As for a recipe, I have one here that would be a good starting point
and which I feel is fairly authentic.
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/index.php?content=challah
Best wishes,
Mike
*Bake With Mike <http://www.bakewithmike.com>*
Mike Avery
A Randomly Selected Bread Saying Of The Day:
Acorns were good until bread was found.
-- Sir Francis Beacon