ounces butter, and two large spoons of
finely powdered coriander seed, wet with
above; make rolls half an inch thick and
cut to the shape you please; bake fifteen or
twenty minutes in a slack oven — good
three weeks.
— Amelia Simmons, American Cookery,
1796The Basic Structure
of Doughs, Batters,
and Their Products
Wheat flour is strange and wonderful stuff!
Mix pretty much any other powdery
ingredient with water and we get a simple,
inert paste. But mix some flour with about
half its weight in water, and the combination
seems to come alive. At first it forms a
cohesive mass that changes its shape
reluctantly. With time and kneading,
reluctance gives way to liveliness, a bouncy