440 



BREAD. 



Biead. labour ; panis curialis, or court bread, allowed by 

 1 the lord for the maintenance of his household ; and 

 eleemosynary bread, distributed as aims to the poor. 

 We have hitherto considered bread as made of the 

 flour of wheat ; but there are many other farinaceous 

 vegetables, from the seeds or roots of which salutary 

 and pleasant bread can be prepared. Oaten bread is 

 common not only throughout Scotland, but likewise in 

 Lancashire, and several of the northern counties of 

 England. In this country we have likewise excellent 

 bread made of barley meal ; and pease bread, which, 

 though much relished by many of our peasantry, is dry, 

 heavy, and hard of digestion. In times of scarcity, 

 many attempts have been made to compensate for the 

 want of corn, by the substitution of other vegetable 

 substances, in the fabrication of bread. For this pur- 

 pose, recourse has been had to the herb ragwort, the 

 thick root of which, when taken out of the ground, 

 is soft and viscous, but becomes hard in a short time, 

 and may be preserved in that state for years, without 

 changing, or requiring the slightest care. This root 

 is easily ground, and yields a fine flower, which has 

 an agreeable taste resembling that of a nut. It is said 

 likewise to be easily digested, and to be more nutri- 

 tive and exhilarating than wheaten bread. The same 

 properties and effects are attributed to radishes. 

 From the acorn, too, a kind of meal is produced 

 which makes excellent bread, provided that a little 

 barley meal be mingled with it, to counteract its astrin- 

 gent qualities. In the wars of Westphalia, bread of 

 this description was very commonly used ; and when. 

 made with milk , was extremely pleasant and nutriti- 

 ous. The slightest preparation is sufficient to re- 

 move the harsh and disagreeable taste which the acorn 

 lias in itsnaturalstate. Roasting or boiling it is all that 

 is requisite to render it quite palatable. This kind of 

 bread has been recommended by physicians, especial- 

 ly for labouring people : the acorns that are best cal- 

 culated for this purpose are those of the white oak. 

 M. Parmentier, chief apothecary in the Hotel des In- 

 valides, has published some beautiful and successful 

 experiments on the vegetables which might be sub- 

 stituted in times of scarcity, for those usually employ- 

 ed for the nourishment of animals. Upon examining, 

 with the most careful attention, what was the nu-- 

 tritive part of farinaceous vegetables, he discovered 

 that it was their starch ; and by a series of well con- 

 ducted experiments, he ascertained the identity of the 

 farina of plants with the starch of wheat. The ve- 

 getables from which he extracted this substance, are 

 the bryony, the iris, gladiolus, ranunculus, fumaria, 

 arum, dracunculus, mandragora, colchicum, filipendu- 

 la, and helleborus, and the roots of the gramen cani- 

 aum arvense. The process by which he extracted the 

 farina or starch from these vegetables, is extremely 

 simple. It is only necessary to cleanse the roots, to 

 scrape and pound them, and then to soak the pulp in 

 a considerable quantity of water : a white sediment is 

 deposited, which, when washed and dried, is a real 

 starch. M. Parmentier converted these different 

 starches into bread, by mingling them with an equal 

 portion of potatoes reduced into pulp, and the ordi- 

 nary dose of wheaten leaver, : the bix-.td had no bad 

 taste, and its quality was excellent. From his expe- 

 riments it appeared, that it ia chiefly the amylaceous 



matterorstarch of grain that is nutritious; andthatthe 

 nutritive quality of other vegetable substances, de- 

 pends entirely on the quantity of that matt.'r they 

 contain. This amylaceous matter, formed into a jol- 

 ly, and diffused in water, will keep a long time with- 

 out undergoing any change. At length, however, it 

 becomes arid, and then putrifies. 



A very good bread may be made of turnips by the 

 following process: Let the turnips be washed clean, 

 pared, and boiled. When they are soft enough for 

 being mashed, the greater part of the water should 

 be pressed out of them, and they should then be 

 mixed with an equal quantity m weight of coarse 

 wheat flour. The dough may then be made in the 

 usual manner, with yeast or barm, salt, water, &c. 

 It will rise well in the trough, and after being well 

 kneaded, may be formed into loaves, and put into ths 

 oven.. It requires to be baked rather longer than or- 

 dinary bread, and when taken from the oven is equal- 

 ly light and white, rather sweeter, with a slight but 

 not disagreeable taste of the turnip. After it has 

 been allowed to stand 12 hours, this taste is scarcely 

 perceptible, and the smell has quite gone. After an 

 interval of '21 hours, it cannot be known that it has 

 turnips in its composition, although it has still a pe- 

 culiar Bweetisb taste : it appears to be rather superior 

 to bread made only of wheat flour, is fresher and 

 moister, and even after a week continues very good. 



Bread is sometimes made of millet, and, when 

 warm, it is pretty good ; when cold, it becomes dry, 

 and easily crumbles, and is therefore preferred by 

 painters for effacing their pencil marks. Though 

 millet be nutritive when boiled, it is not so in bread, 

 but becomes a very powerful astringent. From some 

 passages in Pliny, it appears that this grain was in 

 very common use among the Italian peasantry. There 

 is no grain, he informs us, more heavy, or which swells 

 more in baking. It affords the best leaveu known, 

 and would, doubtless, make excellent beer. 



Rice, though one of the roughest and driest of fa- 

 rinaceous vegetables, is converted by the Americans 

 into a very pleasant bread. The process is as fol- 

 lows : The grain is first washed by pouring water 

 upon it, then stirring it, and changing the water un- 

 til it be sufficiently cleansed. The water is then 

 drawn off, and the rice, after being sufficiently drain- 

 ed, is put, while yet damp, into a mortar, and beaten 

 to powder ; it is then completely dried, and passed 

 through a common hair sieve. The flour, thus ob- 

 tained, is generally kneaded with a small proportion 

 of Indian corn. meal, and boiled into a thickish con- 

 sistence ; or sometimes it is mixed with boiled pota- 

 toes, and a small quantity of leaven and salt is added 

 to the mass. When it has fermented sufficiently, 

 the dough is put into pans, and placed 111 an oven. 

 The bread made by this process is light and whole- 

 some, pleasing to the eye, and agreeable to the taste. 

 But i ice flour will make excellent bread, without the 

 addition of either potatoes, orany kind or meal. Let 

 a sufficient quantity of the flour be put into a knead- 

 ing trough ; and at the same time let a due propor- 

 tion of water be boiled in a cauldron, into \\ 'uch 

 throw a fvw handfuls of rice in grain, and boil n till 

 it break. This forms a thick and viscous substance, 

 which is poured upon the flour, and the whole, is 



