From the scripture history, we learn that the practice of making leavened bread was common from a very re mote antiquity ; so common, indeed, that among the Jews at least, unleavened bread seems never to have been used, except in sacrifices and solemn festivals, or when circumstances rendered it impossible to have bread prepared in the usual way. It seems probable from some particular allusions, (Luke xiii. 21. 1 Cur. V. 60.) that the Jewish bakers were in the practice either of keeping their leaven too long, or of substituting in its stead something which was supposed injurious to health. Without great care, indeed, bread fermented by leaven will have a sour and disagreeable taste. The French, who pay particular attention to the quality of their bread, are extremely careful, both with regard to the kind of leaven which they employ, and the quantity of it which they mix with their dough. Ltvain dr Cliff, or principal leaven, is the portion of the dough which is left to ferment till the next opportunity of baking. This dough is generally kept in a kneading trough, that it may not be too much exposed to the air, or to the sun, or to the frost, so that its fermentation may neither be too rapid nor too slow. When it has ex ceeded the due degree of fermentation, it becomes ne cessary to freshen it, which is done by mixing it with new paste or dough, and this is called levain nfi•tichi, freshened leaven. This operation, perhaps the most important in the art of baking, consists in mixing with the first leaven half its weight of warm water. Thus if the first leaven weigh eight ounces, take four ounces of water; soak the leaven very carefully in the water, and mix flour with them by degrees, so as to form a good paste. This second or freshened leaven may be renewed once or twice ; but after being renewed for the last time, it ought to be used within three hours. One general rule must constantly be observed, namely, to manage the leaven in such a manner, that, from the first to the last, there may always be continued a fer mentation, which becomes sweeter in every stage of the process. After this, all that remains to be done is to mix two-thirds or one-half of flour with this leaven, to soak it well, so that it may be gradually incorporated with the flour, and thus form the dough or paste of bread. It is sufficiently kneaded when it is equally firm throughout, and does not adhere to the hands.
The degree of kneading necessary depends much upon the season of the year. In winter, it is better to employ more leaven, and to knead it less ; in summer, on the contrary, less leaven is necessary, with more labour.
With regard to the proper temperature of the water. the hand of the experienced baker can easily decide. So far as it can be determined by any certain point, it ought to be about 30° of Reaumur's thermometer in summer and spring ; and in winter a little warmer. Care must be taken, however, not to make it boil, for water which has boiled, even though afterwards cooled, has lost part of the air which is necessary for the fabri cation of good bread.
Nothing in the art of baking is more essential than to have a due proportion of flour and water. That pro portion, however, cannot be regulated by any certain rules ; for it varies with the diversity of soil, climate, years, seasons, and grinding. There are some kinds of flour which imbibe precisely three-fourths of their weight of water ; and others which imbibe only half their weight. That flour is always best which imbibes
the greatest quantity of water ; of course the method of discovering the quality of flour is abundantly simple. Merely take a certain quantity of flour, and observe how much water it requires to make a good paste. Bread made of good flour, is about five-sixteenths hea vier than the quantity of flour which it contains ; of coarse it r etains nearly one half of the water employed in forming the dough. These results, however. are by no means uniform : they depend not only on the quality of the flour, but on the manner of employing it, on the skilful regulation of the heat of the oven, and a variety of other circumstances. Another material observation is, that bread without salt is heavier than that which is salted. Salt makes the dough capable of receiving more water, and thus more bread is made with the same quantity of dough. It is of essential use in the fabrica tion of bread, as it makes it keep longer, and corrects the bad qualities of spoiled wheat.
The principal improvement which has been made on bread in modern times, is the substitution of yeast or barm in place of common leaven. This yeast is the mucilaginous froth that rises to the surface of beer, in the first stage of its fermentation. When mixed with the dough. it makes it rise much more speedily and effectually than ordinary leaven, and the bread is of course much lighter, and free from that sour and disa greeable taste, which may often be perceived in bread raised with dough leaven, either because too much is mingled with the paste, or because it has been allowed to advance too far in the process of fermentation.
Bread, properly raised and baked, differs materially from unleavened cakes, not only in being less compact and heavy, and more agreeable to the taste, but in losing its tenacious and glutinous qualities, and thus becoming more salutary and digestible.
The method of making household bread, practised by our bakers, is thus : To a peck of flour they . dd a hand ful of salt, a pint of yeast, and three quarts of water ; the whole, being kneaded in a bowl or trough, will rise in about an hour ; it is then moulded into loaves, and put into the oven. For French bretid. they take half a bushel of fine flour, ten eggs, and a pound and a half of fresh butter, into wh ch they put the same quantity of yeast with a manchet, and tempering the whole mass with new milk pretty hot, leave it half an hour to rise, after which they make it into loaves or rolls, and wash it over with an egg beaten with milk : cave is taken that the oven be not too hot.
So far back as the reign of Henry III., we find men tion made of wastel bread, socket bread. and bread of treet, corresponding to the three sorts of bread now in use, called white, wheaten, and household bread In religious houses they had various kinds of bread, dis tinguished by the names of punts armigerorum, or es quire's bread; penis ronventztalis, or monk's bread; panis purrorunt, boy's bread; and panis fatnalorunr, or penis servientalis, servant's bread. In the household establishment of the grandees, too, they had bread of various qualities and denominations ; as the penis nun cius, or messenger's bread, which was given to messen gers as a reward for their labour ; penis curiaiis, or court bread, allowed by the lord for the maintenance of his household ; and eleemosynary bread, distributed as alms to the poor.