The English Bread Book
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''The English Bread Book'' is an English
cookery book A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cour ...
by Eliza Acton, first published in 1857. The work consists of a history of bread making in England, improvements to the process developed in Europe, an examination of the ingredients used and recipes of different types of bread.


Book

In 1845 the former poet Eliza Acton published '' Modern Cookery for Private Families'', a work that was aimed at the English
middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...
es. A chapter within the book provides bread making and recipes for various styles of bread. Acton undertook a re-write of the book in 1855, but was disappointed that she had not been able to add as much information about bread making into the work as she wanted to. Instead she decided, despite her increasingly poor health, that she would take on the subject in a new work, ''The English Bread-Book For Domestic Use''. Published in May 1857, this is not a recipe book along the same lines as ''Modern Cookery'', but is described by Hardy as "a serious, scientific study ... much darker in tone than her previous work". It consists of a history of bread making in England, improvements made in Europe, an examination of the ingredients used and recipes of different types of bread. Acton also included information about the adulteration of bread by flour millers and bakers of the time, which included the addition of
alum An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double salt, double sulfate salt (chemistry), salt of aluminium with the general chemical formula, formula , where is a valence (chemistry), monovalent cation such as potassium or a ...
and what she called "other deleterious substances". The book was focussed on British bread and, in her preface, Acton wrote "Bread is a first necessity of life to the great mass of the English people; being in part the food of all—the chief food of many—and almost the sole food of many more." She devotes a whole chapter to the approach to bread and bread making in France, Germany and Belgium, and the book contains recipes for German
pumpernickel Pumpernickel (; ) is a typically heavy, slightly sweet rye bread traditionally made with sourdough starter and coarsely ground rye. It is sometimes made with a combination of rye flour and whole rye grains ("rye berries"). At one time it was ...
, French baguettes, Italian
polenta Polenta (, ) is a dish of boiled cornmeal that was historically made from other grains. The dish comes from Italy. It may be served as a hot porridge, or it may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf that can be baked, fried, or grilled. ...
bread, Turkish rolls and Indian breads.


Contents

The following list refers to the 1857 edition. :Preface :Contents :;Part One #Bread, its value #Adulteration of bread, and its consequences #Large institutions established abroad #Gluten #To remove the taint of must from wheat #Different varieties of bread-corn :;Part Two #Outline of bread making #General rules for baking bread #Making dough #Bread recipes


Reception

The unknown reviewer for ''
The Literary Gazette ''The Literary Gazette'' was a British literary magazine, established in London in 1817 with its full title being ''The Literary Gazette, and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences''. Sometimes it appeared with the caption title, "London Lit ...
'' wrote a favourable review of ''The English Bread Book'', which was also copied in full in ''
The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. The reviewer called Acton a "clever author", and praised the inclusion of "the whole philosophy and practice, as well as the history of the subject of bread-making, in its plain and fancy forms". In a review in ''
The Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...
'', the critic considered the book "excellent, and we trust to be popular". Readers of the book, the reviewer thought, will become possessed of a store of useful knowledge, as well as scientific as practical, upon a question which is essentially that of every man, woman and child in the wide universe". In her work, ''English Bread and Yeast Cookery'', Elizabeth David writes that ''The English Bread Book'' heavily influenced and informed her work, and she owes Acton a debt for it. The food writer Elizabeth Ray observes that the book was less successful than ''Modern Cookery'', and was only reprinted in 1990. Although the first edition had "Bread-Book" hyphenated, most subsequent editions did not.


Notes and references


Notes


References


Sources

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