Now that
Critter Tales
is behind me, I'm turning my hand to working on more volumes for my
The Little Series of Homestead How-Tos eBook series. Yes, I know that sounds like it contradicts my
New Year goal
of going hard-copy for information I don't want to lose. From a writers'
perspective, however, eBooks (like my blog) give me a chance to get something
published, get feedback, and edit them later. My eventual goal (Good Lord
willing and the creeks don't rise) is to compile the series into a paperback.
The one I'm working on at present is "How To Bake Without Baking Powder."
When we think of baking without commercial baking powder, recipes for homemade
baking powder come to mind. So do old-fashioned recipes calling for saleratus
and sour milk or buttermilk. All of these work on the same chemical principle:
an acid + a base = carbon dioxide bubbles which cause a batter to rise. While
doing my research, I ran across an interesting statement in a
Wikipedia article.
"In times past, when chemically manufactured baking soda was not available, "ash
water" was used instead. Ashes from hardwood trees contain carbonates and
bicarbonate salts, which can be extracted with water. This approach became
obsolete with the availability of purified baking soda."
How could I not resist following up on that?
I know ashes in one's food probably sounds gross, but consider that wood ashes
have been used historically in cooking worldwide: in Mexico for nixtamalization
of corn for masa, in the Philippines as Lihia, in Nigerian cuisine as Kaun or
Akaun (Cooking Potash), in traditional Scandinavian foods like lutefisk (lye
fish), for making olives in the Mediterranean, in old European recipes for
Greek and Polish cookies, as Pottasche for browning German pretzels and lye
rolls, in gingerbread, in Chinese Century eggs and noodles. Native Americans
also used wood ash to make hominy. Cooking with ash is
considered a trendy gourmet technique, and think of
ash-coated cheeses. Or how about this paleo recipe for
steak cooked on a coal bed?
All of that might not convince you, but the prepper in me is always running in
the background asking, "How would I do that if I couldn't buy or barter for it?"
In this case, "How would I bake quickbreads if I couldn't get baking soda? Could
I somehow use hardwood ashes if I had to?"
There were no references for that tidbit at
Wikipedia, so I had to do a
little digging on my own. In his blog post "
Where does soda bread come from?," Joe Pastry mentions that Native Americans used ashes to "lighten" their
grain cakes. Susan Slack ("
Pearl Ash – A forerunner to Baking Soda") further states that the Hopi made a thin batter of blue corn meal, wood ash,
and water to make
piki, their staple bread.
In terms of actual recipes, the earliest references I could find did not call
for wood ash proper, but rather for potash. Potash is a product which is refined
from hardwood ash. It was in use in American cookery in the 1700s. Example
proportions are found in an old "American Potash Cakes" recipe in
The Domestic Encyclopedia, Or, A Dictionary Of Facts And Useful Knowledge,
Chiefly Applicable To Rural & Domestic Economy: With An Appendix, ...
And The Veterinary And Culinary Arts... (published in 1802): a half-teaspoon potash dissolved in a half-teacupful of
water to 1 pound flour (about 4 cups) and a quarter pound of butter (1/2
cup).
In
Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery and Booke of Sweetmeats, transcriber Karen Hess states, "that American women were routinely using this
chemical (made at home of wood ash) in their baking," (page 201). She is
referring to pearl ash (or pearlash), but gives no clue as to how it was made at
home.
Pearlash (potassium carbonate) is a purified form of potash. It is sometimes
found in recipes of the American Civil War era and before. The modern leavener
of the time, however, was saleratus (Latin for aerated salt). Chemists had
discovered that by exposing potassium carbonate (pearlash) to carbon dioxide
gas, they could make potassium bicarbonate. It was twice as potent as pearlash,
with one teaspoon of saleratus being equivalent to 1-1/4 teaspoons of baking
soda.
In the mid-1800s a purer form came onto the market - sodium bicarbonate.
Originally developed in Europe, the first American manufacturers of sodium
bicarbonate also called it saleratus. Later it became known as baking soda.
Okay, so the history is interesting, but how can I, as a DIYer, use that
information? By experimenting! More on that soon. (
Click here to read Part 2.)
Now available:
How To Bake Without Baking Powder: modern and historical alternatives for
light and tasty baked goods. Includes 54 non-baking powder recipes.
Click here
for more information and where to buy.
