Curious Facts

Everything below is in the book — each one links straight to the page it comes from.

The overnight method's advantage is stated like a business case. The over-night straight dough method has "one special advantage — the process is largely completed during the night and the baking may be done while the day is still young." Read it in the book →
The sponge method is timed to the half hour. Followed closely, the sponge dough method requires five and a half to six hours — the book's real subject is scheduling, and it prices every method in time. Read it in the book →
Zwieback means "twice-baked" — and the book explains the chemistry. The second baking changes some of the starch to dextrine, which is why the book calls it "toast par excellence." Read it in the book →
Gluten bread was sold as medicine. Gluten Bread is recommended for "persons suffering from diabetes and other diseases where starch must be eliminated from the diet" — with the tagline that gluten is to wheat what lean is to meat. Read it in the book →
"Parker House" describes the fold, not the hotel. The book says the name "denotes the shape into which you mould them before the last lightening" — the famous crease, taught as pure technique. Read it in the book →
Proper toast starts with stale bread. For toast, use bread at least 24 hours old — fresher slices must be dried in the oven first. Toast, says the book, is "the great American hot Bread." Read it in the book →
Hot Cross Buns are logged as an import. The book calls serving them on Good Friday a "quaint old-world custom" that has been widely adopted "in the States" — Easter baking, annotated like anthropology. Read it in the book →
The Children's Buns are aimed at the lunch-box. "They love to find such a treat in their school lunch-box" — a sentence that assumes every school lunch in 1920 was packed at home. Read it in the book →
Waffles are "food for an epicure". Yeast-raised, risen a full hour, served with butter and honey — and the book warns that batter too thick makes the waffles tough. Read it in the book →
The rye loaf still leans on white flour. American Rye Bread praises rye as "particularly rich in gluten — a most valuable element in any Bread," then quietly adds a cup and a half of sifted white flour to help the rise. Read it in the book →