Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-10-15
True French Rolls,

TRUE Ffench IL Oliss
There are skeptics in the world who wish to
be satisfied that they are not to be drawn into
countenancing any theories or hobbies before
they lend the light of their countenances, and
the encouragement of their support; and to all
such | say that, being smtteD, seized or pos
sessed of desire to accomplish the true French
roll, did devote much time, waste much -four,
give away much bad bread 10 the poor, before l
found out how TO make it. Since bakers would
not reveal the secret, and no Cook books" knew
anything about 1t, of course | had to find out
for myself. If you take up anv of the afore-
said hand books, and turn to Rolls" you Will
find this:
'French Rolls-Take quart of dough- two eggs,
half cup of butter and one of milk etc., etc., etc
| don't write any more, because that is all
rubbish. That is cake, not bread, and has no
| resemblance to the method in vogue. There is
nothing in French roll, or French bread, but
| -four, salt, water, potatoes and yeast. This is
| the genuine and only way to make a roll.
You can make a biscuit, or a ruSk, or any
thing You please, out OF iermened dough; but
roll is neither Of the above, but peculiar to
itself.
Take two potatoes, ordinary size, and boil
them-pee them first. Then mash these in the
water they were boiled in. All told, this should
make about pint OF potato and wafer like a
thin cruel. Stir in this -four enough to make
stiff sponge; make it rather thicker than usual;
and when it has all cooled well, put in half a
cup Of bright, sparkling yeast. 1t is absolutely
indispensable that the yeast should be lively,
woodworking, and not sour. Without this it
Is useless to ever undertake to make good bread.
Let this rise three hours, by which time it should
be seething and hubbing like miniature catar-
act. If it is not light by this time, let it rise
until it is; but if not raised in five hours, you
must get better yeast and try some other time.
When light, stir it briskly-in fact, 'wallop" it
around in the pan as if you were beating eggs;
then stir in flour enough to make a dough as
stiff aS cti put 2
TO rise agaln-Which ought to take three hours
mOre-and at the end of that three hours knead
it again. This is the way you must knead it,
and this is where you will fail, at first. You
can't ''get the hang of it" and will be very apt
to give it up in disgust and say: "Pho! that's
all nonsense, anyway; SO much fuss for little
bread;" unless you have good sense, and say,
rather, Nothing is fuss if it tends 10 the in
crease of human knowledge"
Turn the dough all out on table well rubbed
with -four tyou are not to mix any more -four in
the dough) so that it will not adhere; and then
roll it over and over, as if it was a rolling pin,
until it is a long cylinder of dough- cut it into
convenient pieces for handling, say the length
of your arm; hold one end in your left hand and
roll the other over and over, as if You were
twisting thread or cord on your knee. When
the mass becomes too long to handle, double it
over on itself and proceed as before. After knead.
ing in this way ten minutes, put the dough all
back in the pan TO rise again.
Here is where you are sure TO fail again: You
cannot by any possibility allow that dough to
rise enough. You will miss it the first time
possibly, over-rase it the second time, and give
ii up entirely, unless you stick to it until you
conquer. Ii you are a true woman you won't
allow mass of dough to "get the better ofyou."
The yinous or why flavor of French bread is
due to the presence of alcohol developed by the
fermentation of the starch in the -four and pota-
toes added to it; and it is necessary to carry
the fermentation to this vnous point to have
the extreme lightness and delicacy of crust and
color that characterize il; and this is only de-
termlned by experience and the sense of smell.
Your dough at the second rising will give forth
so strong gas on being taken up as to make
one throw the head back; aud at this point you
are to form it into rolls by cutting off portions
from the mass, doubling them, like shutting up
book, so as to imprison portion of air, and
then moulding them gently into shape with the
hands, in an obvious manner. Make them as
nearly of one size as possible and put them on
the table to rise again. Do not cover them with
anythlng-let them stand just as they are.
When fully rsen-to obesity, in fact--gve them
cnt in the middle with a well buttered knife,
and put them IN the oven-a hot overland
bake them for quarter Of an hour.
My friends, pause here. NY task is ended.
So great is the desire TO initiate in the human
breast, that | am certain numberless persons, on
reading this paper, will proceed to put the direc-
tons here given, in good faith, into practice at
OhSO' L hope tueN VIII uhNe patience ana pefSe-
Veranee, Tor by the exercise of those sublime
virtues only, great things are achieved. How
many times have | stuck my hands with the
plastic dough; how many sorry, 6at.bottomed
sicklied Ger with the pale dust of -four, failure,
have not had ere l achieved the perfect, oblate
cellulose morsel, which men call a roll How
many times rose, while ii was yet night, peered
into the reticulated mass of dough, lifted it,
smelled of 1t, tasted it, and retired to bed again.
flushed with triumph if il was right, or sckened
with sense of failure if, through careessness or
thoughtesSness, had overlooked some precau-
ton, until at last patience had her perfect work.
From the doubts and tbickets of despair, |
emerged into the highway of assurance had
resolved the crude elements of -four water, and
potato into an artistic production; | had tri-
umphed over matter, and it gave me no more
concern. Therefore | tell the reader as told
him or her, chiefly her, at the outset, if you will
follow the rules here given, and use little in
tellgence on points not clear 10 you, you will
attain the end you desire. If, indeed, You do
desire II. | am not clear in my mind on this
point Life is after all tenahle without the French
roll. | suppose, upon reflection that there are
great many persons who really do not like it a
all, and prefer that solid and substantial staff of
life on which one may literally lean without in
Iurlng 1t. There may be some such; but if you
don't care for it yourself, consider what an adj
vantage this information gives you over your
neighbors! You can triumph over them, at the
least, through achieving this knowledge. Surely
that is no small gain TO rival ones neighbour
to do things that cause them to wonder, to
pun them up with envy, to cause heart burnings
10 visit them; certainly all these things ought to
make one strain every nerve for their accom-
plishment.-Egbert p, Watson in Woods House
hold Magazine.