BREAD IN EUROPE AND AMERICA.
Olaus Magnus, Archbishop of Upsala, who lived in the first half of
the 16th century, has left behind him, in his _Historia de Gentibus
Septentrionalibus_, a long and lucid account of Scandinavian life
and manners. Respecting harvest, he tells us that in the Northern
countries, in many fields of the Visigoths, on that part that lies
southward, barley is ripe and mown in 36 days from the date of
sowing—that is, from the end of June to the middle of August, and
sometimes sooner; and other corn sown in the beginning of May is reaped
in the middle of August—‘by the mutual help of the countrymen, not with
any great pains, but with alacrity and willing minds, lest cold wind
should blow upon it and blast the corn. And they desire no other reward
for their daily labour than a merry feast at night, where the young
people of both sexes, by reason of their faithful labours in the field,
by the judgment, consent, and permission of their provident parents,
are made choice of for to be married.’
He tells us that the farther North you go the less wheat is grown, but
there is more towards the South, the Swedes having plenty of wheat
but more rye. ‘But the Goths, both East and West, who feed on barley
and oats, have an infinite abundance given them by the mercy of God.
Yet there is use made of all these sorts of corn in both places. But
the Swedes provide most of rye, where their women know so well how to
winnow rye, that for colour, taste, and for health it surpasses the
goodness of wheat.’
[Illustration: EARLY SCANDINAVIAN BAKERIES.]
In order to preserve their corn they carefully dried it. ‘On the
hottest days, when the sun shines strong, they spread cloths like
ships’ sails, or else the sails themselves, upon the ground, or on the
tops of mountains where there is no grass, and they lay the corn out to
dry for six, or more, or fewer days, as the sun shines hot; then when
it is cleaned they lay it up in vessels of oak, or else they grind it,
and so lay it up safe, and when it is so dried it will last good for
years. But if it be not ground meal, but corn, it is convenient once a
year to set it in the sun to be again dried, and thus new-dried corn
may be mingled with it prudently. But the meal thrust into the oaken
vessels, or tuns, by strong ramming it in with wooden mallets, and laid
up in a dry place, will last many years, and never be worm-eaten.’
[Illustration: EARLY SCANDINAVIAN BAKERIES.]
He also discourses on the variety of mills for grinding corn in
use. How there was the windmill, that turned by running water, by
horse-power, by hands and feet—backwards and forwards, like the
pre-historic mealing stones, and also the quern; but he mostly extols
the windmills of Holland.
The grain being ground, it was ready for making into bread, and he
minutely describes the operation—how it was kneaded into a round shape,
then rolled very thin, and finally baked on a sheet of iron, like a
warrior’s shield, supported by a tripod, and heated by a slow fire—in
fact, the griddle, or girdle, cakes of North Britain. But there was
other bread which was baked in an oven; and here the artist seems
to have drawn somewhat upon his imagination for his cockroaches and
blackbeetles. It seems that bread was not sold by weight, and that they
were in the habit, about Christmas time, of making what we should call
dough babies, about the size of a five-year-old child, of which they
made presents, and similar, but smaller, babies of wheat-flour, which
they sold.
They also made a gingerbread of flour, honey, and spices, which
travellers in the winter made use of; another bread of flour, milk,
butter, eggs, and ginger. Then, also, they baked biscuits for shipboard
and for victualling forts, but he pathetically points out that these
biscuits, if kept for a length of time, especially in a damp place,
developed dangerous energy in the shape of weevils, which were harmless
(_non tamen noxii_). He says of the griddle cakes that they would keep
good for twenty or more years, by which time they would be reasonably
stale.
Scarcely two centuries have passed since rye flour, by itself, or mixed
with wheat, furnished nearly all the bread consumed by the labouring
classes of England. With the exception of wheat, rye contains a greater
proportion of gluten than any other cereal, to which fact it owes its
capability of being converted into a spongy bread; and if anyone wishes
to try it for themselves, here is a recipe for making _Grislex Surbröd_
or _Husholdinngsbröd_ (bread for the household), which is the ordinary
bread for the eastern parts of Norway.
‘Contrary to our expectations we found white bread everywhere, but the
common bread is a heavy bread, the chief ingredient of which is rye.
It is always sour—the goodwife intends it to be so. They also have
“flat bread” (_flad bröd_) made of potatoes and rye. It was this kind
of bread that the two women whom we happened in upon were making. They
were in a little underground room, unlighted except from the door.
‘The women making the bread were seated on either side of a long, low
table, upon which were huge mounds of dough. The one nearest the door
cut off a piece of this, and moulded it, and rolled it out to a certain
degree of thinness; then the other one took it, and, with the greatest
care, rolled it still more. At her right hand was the fireplace, and
upon the coal was a red piece of iron, forming a huge griddle more than
half a yard across. The bread matched this very nearly in size when
it was ready to be baked, and it was spread out and turned upon the
griddle with great dexterity, and as soon as it was baked it was added
to a great heap on the floor.
‘The woman said she should continue to bake bread for thirty days. She
had a large family of men who consumed a great deal, and they had to
bake very often in consequence. In many places they do not bake bread
oftener than twice a year, then it is a circumstance like haying or
harvesting. We heard an Englishman say of this bread of the country:
“One might eat an acre of it and then not be satisfied.”’
In Denmark, too, rye bread is the rule among the peasantry and small
farmers—wheaten bread being to them a luxury, and used as cake is
with us. In Russia, although its chief export is wheat from the Black
Sea, and oats and rye from the Baltic, the peasant eats but rye bread
dipped in hemp oil, and even then, as but a few years since, famine
visits this granary, and the hapless peasants being reduced to mix
orach and bark with their wretched bread, have at times been unable to
procure even this, and have died in thousands of starvation. Although
Austria-Hungary produces wheat which makes the finest bread-flour in
the world, yet throughout the Austrian Empire the peasantry eat rye
bread, whilst at Vienna the wheaten bread, especially the _Kaiser
semmel_, which is what we should term a dinner roll or manchet, is
simply perfection.
The excellence of the Viennese bread is said to be owing to the bakers,
the ovens, and the yeast. The men work according to the traditions of
the past, which have been handed down to them. The ovens are heated
by wood fires lit inside them during four hours; the ashes are then
raked out, and the oven is carefully wiped with wisps of damp straw.
On the vapour thus generated, as well as that produced by the baking
of the dough, lies the whole art of the browning and the success of
the _semmel_. An ounce of yeast (three decagrammes) and as much salt
is taken for every gallon of milk used for the dough. The yeast is
a Viennese speciality, known as _St. Marxner Pressheffe_, and its
composition is a secret. It keeps two days in summer and a little
longer in winter.
Viennese bread is noted for the fantastic shapes into which it is
made, but concerning the crescent shape the following legend is told:
‘Many years ago, when there was war between the Austrians and the
Turks, the city of Vienna was besieged, and so closely invested that
famine seemed inevitable unless the inhabitants yielded and surrendered
to the hated Turks. One day a baker in his cellar noticed a peculiar
noise, and, looking about, discovered that a boy’s drum on the ground
in a corner had some marbles on the parchment, which every little while
danced about and caused the odd sound. Surprised, he listened intently,
and found that the noise was repeated at regular intervals. He put
his ear to the ground and could distinguish a thumping sound, which,
on reflection, he concluded must be produced by the enemy undermining
the city. He went to the authorities with his story, but at first it
was discredited. At last the general in command made an investigation,
and found the baker’s suspicions correct. A counter-mine was made and
exploded, and the Turks repulsed.
On the restoration of peace, the Emperor of Austria sent for the baker,
and expressing his gratitude to him for having saved the city, asked
what reward he could claim. The modest baker refused riches or rank,
but only asked the privilege of making his bread hereafter in the form
of the crescent, which had so long been their terror, so that it might
be a reminder to those who ate it that the God of the Christian is
greater than the God of the Infidel. So the Imperial order was issued
granting the baker and his descendants the sole right to make their
bread in the shape of the Turkish crescent.’
As in Austria, so in Germany. Good wheaten bread can be got in towns
and cities, though not so fine as in Austria, by reason of the
flour, and the peasantry are content to have rye and barley bread.
_Pumpernickel_, to wit, is one of the oldest varieties of bread, and
the first to come into general use. It is made of barley, and must be
baked in an oven especially made for the purpose. This kind of bread
is considered very nutritious, and is of a sweet taste. In many parts
of Germany there are large bakeries where _pumpernickel_ is baked as a
speciality, whence it is sent into the smaller towns, and even exported
to other countries in loaves of 4 lbs., 8 lbs., and 12 lbs. weight. At
Soest, Unna, and Brostadt large quantities are made for exportation,
for the expatriated German carries his love of Fatherland with him, and
at Berlin there is also a bakery for making _pumpernickel_.
The Gauls reaped their wheat, and then threshed it out by means of oxen
and horses; but they also cut off the ears, and then reaped the straw.
To gather in the panic and millet, they held the stalks by means of a
kind of comb, and then cut off the heads with shears. To prevent its
being stolen, the corn was hidden in underground storehouses, and often
in natural caves, which were afterwards walled up. They used mealing
stones, as before described, in order to crush and roughly grind their
grain, which was made into an unleavened cake, dry and thin, which was
not cut, but was broken when served. They also had a kind of bread
called ‘plate bread,’ which they ate soaked with sauce or meat gravy.
The Gauls made beer from barley, and used it instead of water to mix
their dough with. Thus, unconsciously, they discovered the secret of
leavened bread; and, by-and-by, noticing that the beer if let alone
frothed, and that when used for bread-making in this state the bread
was lighter, they left off using the beer, and only employed the yeast.
Barley they called _gru_, which, in Latin, became _grudum_. _Gruellum_
was husked barley, which the Gauls ate in soup and with boiled meat.
This is the origin of the French word _gruau_ (groats), which is
equally applied to husked oats. Rye was used in the northern part of
Gaul; and, from the time of Strabo, millet was in use among the Gauls
as well as panic, but especially in Aquitaine. They also certainly
knew of buck-wheat, which had been cultivated from time immemorial in
Africa, for it has been found in several Celtic remains in the Camp de
Chalons.
The Romans brought millstones with them, and introduced the
water-wheel, which saved them the exertion of personally grinding their
corn, and with the arrival of the Franks came Christianity, and they
were taught the prayer, ‘Our Father, which art in Heaven ... give us
this day our daily bread.’
In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in France, noblemen, the
middle-class, and shopkeepers did not eat much white bread, and their
best was equal to the ‘household bread’ of to-day, whilst whitey-brown,
brown, and bran breads were to be found on their tables. The common
folk fed on bread made of barley, rye, maslin, a mixture of wheat and
rye, brown bread, black bread, and enormous pasties, of which the thick
crust was composed of rye, bran, and flour mixed together.
Maize was introduced into France from America in 1560. Champier speaks
of it as a plant recently imported, and says: ‘Some poor people, in
default of corn, have made bread of it, especially in the Beaujolais,
but it is less fitted for men than for animals, which fatten quickly
upon it, and especially for pigeons who love it much.’
Vermicelli, macaroni, lazagnes (riband vermicelli) and other Italian
pastas were brought into France during the wars of Charles VIII., and
had no other rivals than rice.
At this time, in making bread, the yeast of beer was partially
abandoned, and other ferments were made use of. The Flemings boiled
wheat, and, after having skimmed off the froth, used it as a leaven,
which gave them a bread much lighter than hitherto, or, according to
Champier and Liébaut, who wrote in 1589, they employed vinegar, wine,
and rennet; and from their writings we find that the farmers were their
own millers and bakers.
‘It would be useless for the labourer to take so much pains with his
land, if he only derived a profit from a sale of the grain which he
has harvested, if he could not himself make cakes, flammèches (_flaky
pastry_), flans (_cakes made with flour, eggs, milk and butter_),
fritters, and a thousand other dainties, which he can make with a
flour from his own corn; and it would be very unbecoming in him were
he to borrow them from his neighbours, or buy them of the bakers or
pastrycooks.
[Illustration: A MEDIÆVAL BAKERY.
(_From an engraving by Jost Amman._)]
‘The farmer’s duty is to choose his corn, have it ground, and to keep
the flour in the granary, whence he will soon take it in order to make
bread. The handling of the flour and kneading the dough is entirely the
care of the wife, who ought to give all her best energies to it, for of
all food bread is the best; one gets tired of the most delicate meats,
but never of bread.’
From this time till the present there is no great story to tell of
bread in France. It has progressed in quality, as in every other
country, until French bread is famous throughout the civilised world.
But this is mainly in the towns; black bread is still in use in some of
the rural parts of France, and one can imagine the relish with which
the peasant tastes once more the bread of his youth after having been
deprived of it for some time.
In Paris, at one time, the monks controlled the bakery business; they
had the monopoly of the public ovens, where housewives brought the
dough to be baked, just as nowadays they take a shoulder of mutton
and potatoes. But no baking was allowed on Sundays and fête days.
France thus observed Sunday as a whole holiday, and the oven-tax went
towards the support and burial of the poor. Up to 1789 the bakers
were compelled to sell nearly all their bread at stalls in the public
markets, and 900 master bakers monopolised the privilege; for it
was only in 1863 that the trade became free and thrown open to all.
Previous to that, in order to qualify for a master baker, it was
necessary to graduate five years as an apprentice, and four more as a
journeyman; also the sale of fancy bread was obliged to be carried on
in an underhand way, and it was delivered in secret, being subject to a
tax, and the baker not being able to make it of exact weight, without
prejudice, on account of its great extent of crust.
American flour is celebrated all over the world, and is more
extensively used in England, especially the finest sorts for pastry;
but, of course, the demand for it in the immense continent itself
is something enormous. Take one instance, Philadelphia, which is
celebrated for its good bread. Over one million barrels are sold in
that city annually for home consumption, and two-thirds of this is
made into bread. The 1300 bakers in Philadelphia use 600,000 barrels,
a barrel of good flour making from 270 to 280 five cent. loaves, and
the best flour is the cheapest to use. As a rule, the bakers use choice
brands, and mix four grades to get the proper alloy, so to speak—two
‘Minnesota springs’ and two ‘Indiana winters.’ Some bakers, especially
those who make the best breads, use only one grade of spring wheat and
two of winter. In the olden time yeast was made of malt, potatoes, and
hops, and it is still largely used, but the bakers of fancy breads use
a patent yellow compressed yeast. There are seven large steam bread
bakeries in Philadelphia, giving employment to three or four hundred
hands. One large establishment manufactures the different varieties
of Vienna bread exclusively. It is made of the best flour, and milk
instead of water is used to mix the flour. The baking is done in
air-tight ovens, and the steam generated in baking settles back on the
bread instead of escaping. This makes the outer crust thin and tender,
and gives the bread a particularly rich taste and pleasant aroma.
With the addition of maize and buckwheat, the Americans use the same
cereals for making bread as we do; but, of course, as is the case with
every nation, there are specialities which do not travel abroad. Graham
bread is our wholemeal bread, and should be made with the unbolted
meal of wheat, and not only that, but the wheat of which it is made
should be good plump grain, otherwise there would be a disproportionate
quantity of bran.
Then there is Boston brown bread, for which the following is the
formula: One quart Indian corn meal, one quart Graham, one quart rye
flour, one quart white flour, one quart boiling water, one pint yeast,
one small cup of molasses, two teaspoonfuls of salt, half-cup of burnt
sugar colouring. For rye and Indian corn bread it is only necessary to
change the above recipe by leaving out the Graham and white flour and
doubling the proportions of Indian corn meal and rye in their place.
Of rolls there are very many varieties besides the ordinary French
rolls. Many hotels have their speciality in this class of bread, and,
consequently, we have Parker, Tremont, Revere, Brunswick, Clarendon,
St. James, Windsor, &c., rolls, besides which there are twist and
sandwich rolls.