Yeast

Bread is the very first chapter in the 1906 Berlin Cook Book. And the first recipe in that chapter is YEAST. No one claims the recipe but it says Selected under it so likely the cookbook committee selected the recipe from some printed source. Back in 2012 I kept looking at this recipe but avoided it for a couple of reasons. First it wasn’t terribly exciting and couldn’t really be tasted once completed. It also required “a cup of good yeast”. Would regular dry granulated yeast be good enough or should I try something a bit more authentic like fresh yeast?

Today I decided to give this recipe a try. I have some fresh compressed yeast also known as cake yeast in my freezer. I’m able to get a block of it from a local European deli and it freezes well. I used to be able to buy Fleischman’s compressed yeast at grocery stores but they haven’t stocked it in years.

My first step was to cut a piece of yeast from my frozen block that was approximately the size of the old commercial yeast cakes. It was about a tablespoon. This was my best guess as to the quantity I would need for this recipe. I put the frozen cube of yeast in a cup of lukewarm water to thaw and hopefully begin to “work” a bit while I continued with the rest of the recipe.

Next it was time to prepare the “good sized” potatoes. I decided at this point to cut the recipe in half. I peeled two Russet potatoes and put them in cold water to soak for thirty minutes. One hundred years ago there were many varieties of potatoes but most are not available any more. Russets are one type of potato that still appears in grocery stores. I put two cups of hot water in a saucepan and started grating the potatoes into it. I ended up not using all of my second potato as they were very large. I got the water boiling and then let everything simmer for five minutes. I regularly stirred the increasingly gloopy stuff until the time was up. I added a 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of salt and then left it to cool a bit. Once it was luke warm I added the full cup of liquid yeast since it seemed to need the liquid. I put the glazed pottery bowl on top of my slightly warm stove, covered the bowl with a cloth, and left it to sit for several hours. It was about two hours later that I remembered I needed to give it a stir. It had actually developed a bit of “life” and had risen slightly. Stirring brought it down again and I left it alone for another couple of hours. It was time to bottle my yeast.

Interior of St. John’s Lutheran Church in New York City.

It is at this point that normally I’d be talking about the taste of the end result, and about the recipe contributor — but this recipe doesn’t really suit either of these options. However, even after I finished cooking everyday from this cook book, I continued to research the history of this cookbook. One of the driving forces behind it appears to be a woman named Meda Oberlander. She lived in this community for a few short years but she and her family had a big impact. She was born in Syracuse NY along with all her brothers and sisters. The family lived in Berlin Ontario for a few years when her father was a minister here. Her sister Matilda married a local man and stayed when everyone else went back to Syracuse. Eventually her brother became the minister of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church here. He was single and so was Meda so she also came back and lived with him. I imagine she helped him with church duties and keeping house. When he was hired to minister to a church in New York City he left Berlin Ontario and Meda went with him.

Exterior of St. John’s Lutheran Church in New York City.

The building is still standing and remains a Lutheran church — St. Johns on Christopher Street in New York. Last spring I went to see it and the current minister gave me a tour.

I could not bring myself to taste my yeast but I will use it in something later this week. It doesn’t look like any yeast mixture I’ve made or seen. The potatoes give it a bit of a grey hue and it is very gelatinous. I do wonder if it will be an effective yeast. Time will tell. I’ll keep it bottled up in a cool place (not difficult at this time of year in my old house).

                                                           YEAST
Selected
Pare 4 good sized potatoes and let them lie in cold water 30 minutes; put 1 quart of water in sauce pan; grate potatoes quickly and stir them into the boiling water; stir over fire five minutes, then take from fire; add 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tablepoons salt; turn into stone jar or bowl and let stand until luke warm, then add 1 cup good yeast; cover and ferment 3 or 4 hours, stir it down every time it comes to top of vessel; then put into jar or big bottle, so that it may be covered tightly and stand in a place where it will keep very cold, but not freeze. Will keep 2 weeks. Save a cup of the yeast for the next time.

                                                               Selected
Whole wheat and entire wheat flour is one and the same thing, and is put upon the market under both names as well as under special brands, it should closely resemble ordinary bread flour in texture and feeling — a little rubbed between the fingers should feel very granular, and when compressed in the palm will not retain the imprint of the fingers. In color it should be from a deep cream to pale coffee tint, the exact shade varying according to the mill in which it was prepared. When wet it is many shades darker.