VARIETIES OF FRENCH BREAD. I think of French bread as the best in the world. P.N. Furbank in the review I posted on yesterday says this about French bread in the late nineteenth century: “Country bread was uneatable. In some Alpine districts they only baked once a year, and before eating the stuff you had to smash it with a hammer.”
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I just read an article about whisky making in the Highlands in the late 18th century. The government had instituted a licensing fee which was very steep in order to own a still. As a result the majority was made illegally – and the quality was higher. Legal stills couldn’t afford to make quality ingredients and it was undrinkable.
Granted, the illegal stuff still came in at 120 proof and was consumed by the “dram.” A dram would be about a third of a pint. I’m a college student and THAT sounds absurd to me.
My mother used to tell me that when her mother (Ma) baked bread, it was so delicious fresh it would disappear at the next meal. So she deliberately let it get stale so the family would eat it just for nourishment, not pleasure. They were that poor.
Thank you for the family story, Mom! That’s one of the things I love most about Dad’s blog, how it serves as a record for the family stories Dad and his commenters post. That was really smart of Ma to do, but I weep at the thought of being given stale bread when I could have delicious fresh bread. Restaurants win me over immediately if the bread is hot, fresh, and tender.