Said to be the first ever printed recipe for bread from the anonymous

'The Good Huswife's Haindmaide for the Kitchen' of 1594.

THE MAKING OF FINE MANCHET
Take half a bushell of fine flower twise boulted, and a gallon of faire luke
warm water, almost a handful of white salt, and almost a pinte of yest, then
temper all these together, without any more liquor, as hard as ye can handle
it: then
let it lie halfe an hower, then take it up, and make your Manchetts, and let
them
stand almost an hower in the oven. Memorandum, that of every bushell of
meale may
be made five and twentie caste of bread, and every loaf to way a pounde
besyde the chesill.


Manchet is the name for the small fine round white loaves of the period.

A bushell is a measure of volume, about 60lb of flour.

Bolting is the sifting of the meal to remove the bran and make white flour.

The 'caste' of bread is an old quantity of bread, two or three loaves
according to their size.

The 'chesill' is the finer wheat germ and small dross which is removed from
the flour after the coarse bran.

Interesting that the dough is made up as 'hard' (dry, stiff?) as possible.
No high hydration bread there. Also the time taken in the making is very
short. I can't believe an hour in the oven is the baking time, maybe an hour
rising in the warm oven before the fire is lit. The yeast is presumably
brewers yeast in solution, a by-product of beer making.

Tim w