A treatise on the art of bread-making

"A Treatise on the Art of Bread-making was first published in 1805. It was the first book-length study of the subject in the English language. For centuries, secrets of the art and mystery of baking had been closely guarded by the craft itself, entry to which was only effected by long years of training and apprenticeship. Recipes and lore were handed down through the generations by word of mouth and most bakers, in any case, were not reading-and-writing men. Abraham Edlin, the author of this book, called them 'illiterate', and was himself a medical practitioner from Uxbridge in Middlesex. He turned to the study of baking for the sake of general social improvement through scientific endeavour, investigating the essential science of fermentation, the trade practices of the day and the practical difficulties under which bakers and allied traders laboured. The result is a book that throws much light on the progress of bread-making in England at the start of the nineteenth century: there are descriptions of working practices and conditions; many entertaining recipes; discussions of breads available from grains and foodstuffs other than wheat; as well as a summary of the contemporary understanding of yeast and fermentation. While our knowledge of baking in France and other European countries is much assisted by important eighteenth-century books on the topic, our acquaintance with English practice is patchy to non-existent." "This is a transcription of the original edition."--BOOK JACKET.