A Marvelous Site and Resource

There are, at least, two threads running currently whose subjects deal with "the past'":

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/18072/primitive-cooking-techniques-amp-discussions

and,

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/18097/fredk-t-vine

I am especially taken with the latter, more so with the author, than with any particular book, he wrote.  Apparently, Mr. Fredrick T. Vine, was a popular and successful author, and baker at the turn of the 19th to 20th century.  A superficial web search finds at least five bread and baking books, writings by Mr. Vine, sufficently treasured that reproductions are still sold today.

Browsing through one of his,

 By Frederick T. Vine,

here is one excerpt I found particulary chuckle-inducing, considering the "hole-i-er than thou"  point-of-view many of us share.

"HOLES IN BREAD.

IF there is one thing more annoying than another to the baker, it is to cut a handsome-looking loaf and to find it full of large, unsightly holes, especially when, as is generally the case, you desire it to cut extra nice.

This is no new thing, but has been with us to plague the bakers' life for many years, and very many schemes have been tried to banish it, but all to no purpose; it is still unfortuuately with us, and I am not sanguine enough to predict its banishment from reading this chapter. However, I will endeavour to reason it out to you, and give my own theories upon it, together with the many remedies I have tried and suggested for its cure."

Frederick T. Vine's writings, and hundreds of other culinary books are available at:

http://stommel.tamu.edu/~baum/google-fud.html

David G