Bread Molding Reconstruction Assignment

NAME: Jef Palframan & Emily Boyd
DATE AND TIME: 122000 Sep 14
LOCATION: Brooklyn, NY - Apartment on 20th floor
SUBJECT:Bread Molding Reconstruction

• In order to avoid confusion or risk 'reflexivity', we are going to take steps to lay out, as much as possible, how the experiment is going to be conducted.
• Laying out the Experiment (this entry is subject to change as more research is done):
  • Objective: To preform the recipe contained on page 140v of BnF Ms. 640 in order to recreate the process and examine the results.
  • Parameters: Time - To be completed NLT
  • Iterations: The experiment will be preformed 9 times with three different doughs on three different objects of varying degrees of detail in order to measure the impact of the results.
  • Ingredients: Water, flour leavening agent.
  • Equipment: Wood cutting board, metal tin for bread. Mixing instruments.
  • Procedure:
    • Pre-experimental steps
      • Much of the information gathering and notes on ingredients on equipment can be done before hand, with the exception of what the experiment reveals. Doing so with save us time and effort when it come to actually preforming the experiment.
    • Planning the experiment
    • 
      
  • AAR (After Action Review)
    • This should be a step that we preform formally, after we have conducted each step of the experiment.
• We will use the recipe on page 140v of the French Manuscript as the baseline recipe for our experiment. It is as follows:
  • "Molding and reducing a big piece - Mold it with the pith of the bread just out of the oven, or like that aforementioned, & and in drying out it will diminish & by consequence so too the medal that you have cast. You can, in this way, in lengthening out or enlarging the imprinted bread, vary the figure & from one face make several quite different ones. The bread straight from the oven is best. And that which has been reheated twice shrinks more. You can cast sulfur without letting the imprint on the bread dry, if you want to cast it as large as it is. But, if you want to let it diminish, let it dry either more or less" (140v).
• Other recipes will be used to determine what kind of consistency and properties we are looking for in the materials manipulated during the experiment and to fill in tacit assumptions that the main recipe. Those sources are as follows:
  • From BnF Ms. Fr. 640:
    • How to quickly mold with stucco - p012v;
    • To mold sulphur - p012r;
    • Stucco for moldings - p029r;
    • Molding - p050r;
    • Molding with cuttlefish bone - p091r;
    • Wax for molding - p0109r; and
    • Molds - p150r.
  • Biringuccio - The Pirotechnia:
    • The methods of Moulding Various Kinds of Reliefs, p. 329-331.
  • Cellini - The Treatises of Benvenuto Cellini on Goldsmithing and Sculpture:
    • How the above mentioned clay is made, p. 113.
  • May, Robert - The Accomplisht Cook, or the Art and Mystery of Cookery:
    • To make French Bread the best way, p. 239 (Courtesy of the research of Dr. Bilak).
  • Theophilus - On Divers Arts:
    • Chapter 33. The Rinds of Folium and Their Tempering Media, loc. 1012.
• Found a reason to use the NATO standard DTG again. Airborne!

General Observations and Questions

• In preparation for this experiment, I was completing refresher training on the some video editing software that we intend to use. I noted that learning the process was similar to the hands-on experimentation that we are examining. To use this program one must utilize a series of key strokes to manipulate video clips and editing tools. It occurred to me that this process of learning keystrokes to preform an action is not unlike learning the uses of materials and techniques we are studying. In order to be efficient and produce a quality product, one must assimilate the keystrokes as a type of language. If I tried to create something from scratch without familiarizing myself to techniques before hand, then my progress would be slowed to the point where fleeting moments of ingenuity and insight would be lost. Speed is required and moments of irrational decision making are required. Not unlike the acquisition of language, one does not carry around a dictionary, a verb conjugation manual to order to speak. It appears that the subconscious mind is responsible for much in the process of making, possibly even more so than the consciousness mind.
• The views of the camera are going to be inferior to our own personal experiences. While a camera allows us to record a point of view when the experiment is conducted, it does lack many of the human senses that are important to the process. The camera cannot feel heat, pressure (through physical contact or via the air), viscosity, texture. It cannot smell evidence of burning, humidity, sweetness or rot. It also lacks perception of a third dimension and the ability to move in conjunction with curiosity and reflex. Every effort must be made to record our observations through writing, with particular focus to what the camera may have missed.
• Before the experiment ofMeasurements as adjectives and descriptors. Might be the only way to achieve a universal pre-21st century system of weights and measures. What is universal? Religious thought, literature, language (that complicates things).
• Almost every ingredient that we have come across during our experiments and research possess a cultural or religious significance. Before we performed the second iteration of the BMR, I was researching how to source 'cane oil' in the 'Stucco for Molding' recipe on 29r in BnF Ms 640. Cane oil is also known as Calamus Oil and comes from the Acorus calamus plant and is currently banned in the US due to toxicity (http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=189.110). You can still find online retailers, but the cost is prohibitive, and we are not interested in messing around with ingredients that are labeled toxic. Cane root was used although at the time of writing these claims have not been corroborated with other evidence. It is amazing how something that serves as an smaller ingredient of a much larger object can have a large history and significance in itself. The physical act of combination says much about the motives and world-view of the assembler.
• Longsword fighting reconstruction article: http://www.nytimes.com/video/sports/100000003040466/inside-the-world-of-longsword-fighting.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1409232722000&bicmet=1419773522000&_r=0
• In spite of the difficulties of working with the materials, the author of the French Manuscript never really addresses what tools he is using. Tragacanth gum is extremely difficult to work with; it is extremely sticky when wet and makes an awful mess. Dealing with the difficulties of the materials is rarely mentioned. The materials seem to dictate the focus of the recipe, not the human interactions with the materials. This is probably due to his level of experience with manipulating the materials; an amateur like myself would no doubt waste a lot of time developing the core skills needed to manipulate the materials rather than focusing on the materials themselves. The shortcomings of my skills are the primary focus of my interactions, where as the materials are the focus of his. Is this the difference between master and apprentice?
• Recipes seem to start and end at transfer points or stages in the process of creation where the different inputs can be manipulated. There seems to be continuous cycle of input-material refinement-output-process refinement-input this is not unlike current manufacturing or project workflows. The study of operations management may be able to provide more insight.

NAME: Jef Palframan & Emily Boyd
DATE AND TIME: 132300 Sep 14
LOCATION: Brooklyn, NY - Apartment on 20th floor
SUBJECT:Bread Molding Reconstruction

• Completed refresher training for video software and inspected or prepped all the equipment. I hope our filming will be able to capture the process of making in way that words or photos cannot. It may also provide a method to review and clarify points of insight at a later point in time, but notes should be maintained as much as possible.

NAME: Jef Palframan & Emily Boyd
DATE AND TIME: 141900 Sep 14
LOCATION: Brooklyn, NY - Apartment on 20th floor
SUBJECT:Bread Molding Reconstruction

• Secured doughs for mixing bread (see pic below). Will put together a sourdough tonight. I hope there is enough time for it to collect yeast.
• Finding rye dough is difficult in NYC. I went to three stores to find some and no luck. Had to order from a specially store, however my experience with them tells me that they (Brooklyn Fare - a local grocery chain in Brooklyn) are unreliable. Scheduled for delivery tomorrow.
• Sourdough Starter Mixing:
  • Had an exceptionally hard time finding a EM sourdough recipe. Ultimately decided to use a modern recipe that called for no commercial yeast to be added. (http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-your-own-sourdough-starter-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-47337)
  • NOTE: I have some reservations about using a bread that has been prepared with a starter or a yeast. Wouldn't they be to porous to capture the information on the object? Could bread in this instance simply be understood to not contain yeast or starter? Is the word bread use for the lack of a more developed term, something that would indicate the 'bread' is a object of manufacturing and not Need to find confirmation of this. UPDATE: The stucco recipe on page 29r gives instructions for molding with wheat and tragacanth gum. The recipe on 29r and 140v are both intended to be used for molding. If their intended use is the same, then shouldn't their properties be the same? If, and this needs to be confirmed, tragacanth does not rise when cooked, then it is possible that this property should extend to other recipes as well. Words like fine, smooth are used often, and steps are taken to specifically avoid bubbles, in the medium and the mold material, "After preparing your hollow mold of sulfur or another [material] and oiling it and surrounding it with a circle, soak your plaster in water, not too thick, and rub it well with your finger, and if it makes bubbles, throw on more powder of the said plaster and crush it with your finger until it makes no more bubbles" (p012r). I am against adding yeast or sourdough starter at this point. Based on this we are going to attempt the experiment without leavening agent.
    • "Have some tragacanth gum and let it dip until it drinks all the water and is swollen and turned into jelly. Then grind it strongly on marble and then have some rye flour which is better than the wheat one for it is more humid and don’t make the batter so dry and spread your tragacanth gum and keep grinding and mingle little by little the very finely sieved flour and knead it as if you wanted to make some bread until you reckon that is thick enough and firm like bread pastry you want to put in the oven" (p029r).
• p115v in the FM offers some good guidance about how to avoid breaking mold due to heat. I think we should incorporate this step into our exercise.
• We should examine other recipes in the French Manuscript and other sources to answer the following questions:
  • How much pressure should be applied to the mold on the object and for how long?
  • How hot or cold, relative to room temperature, should the objects to be molded be?
  • What agents are required to ensure that the mold does not catastrophically adhere to the object?
  • Is there a technique for applying the pith? Top-Bottom, Left-right? How does the caster avoid trapping air between the cast and the mold.

NAME: Jef Palframan & Emily Boyd
DATE AND TIME: 151300 Sep 14
LOCATION: Brooklyn, NY - Apartment on 20th floor
SUBJECT:Bread Molding Reconstruction

• First Experiment:
  • Based on research done the day prior we decided to attempt the recipe using just finely ground flour and water. We decided to preform there iterations, varying the mixture and procedure based on the results of the first.
  • The apartment was a constant 72 degrees fahrenheit throughout the experiment.
  • Ingredients:
    • Finely ground stone wheat flour - we used a wheat four that was very finely ground and well sifted; purchased at Eataly; we choose this flour because it was the homogenous as possible and had the consistency that many other recipes in the French Manuscript demanded; utilized at room temperature.
    • Water - tap water at room temperature.
  • Equipment:
    • Mixing bowls: plastic - should not affect authenticity to a drastic amount;
    • Mixing utensils: bamboo spoon - similar consistency to larger wooden spoon, no anticipated material effect; stainless steel fork - no anticipated material effect;
    • Cutting board: large wooden - no anticipate material effect;
    • Small serrated cutting knife: utilized on the first iteration of the Experiment, no anticipated material effect;
    • Ceramic cutting knife: for the second and third iterations of the first experiment we utilized a ceramic knife. This was due to myself forgetting that I had a perfectly good bread knife in the drawer. It is hoped that the pressing of the objects in the dough would have eliminated any variation in surface smoothness, thus a ceramic knife would not have affected the result to greatly; and
    • Natural Gas Oven: Will eliminate randomness or inconsistencies that may have been present in EM ovens, however due to living conditions it is not possible to eliminate its use.

• Recipe
  • We decided to work with the recipe 'Molding and reducing a big piece' from page 140v in the manuscript as our base line recipe. We reinterpreted the term 'bread' to mean a plaster-like materials made out of dough and water, straight out of the oven; essentially, Medieval Play-dough, heated. Our reasons for preforming such a step are outlined in the 14 Sep 14 entry.
• Iteration 1.1:
  • We combined 1 cup of flour and ½ cup of water in a mixing bowl and stirred;
  • our goal was to mix the dough and water until "it can be stretched without breaking, and if it is not strong enough it can’t be well detached" (p029r). The dough needed to be stringy but not so much so that cannot maintain its shape;
  • The final mixture ended up being 1 ¼ cups of flour and 1 cup of water;
  • we placed the mix in a ball and placed it in a cooking pan greased with butter and placed it in the oven at 350° for 20 mins;
  • the decision to remove the bread was made based upon its appearance in the oven;
  • We removed the bread and immediately cut it horizontally into halves and pressed in for objects to be cast (A military cap badge, a locket, a commemorative coin and a small carabiner);
  • Emily pressed all the objects, so as to maintain consistency. I myself pressed on objects in order to observe the depth and firmness, for my own curiosity; and
  • After approx. 2 mins we removed the objects and placed the molds to the side ready for casting.
• Iteration 2.1:
  • for this iteration we followed more or less the same procedure. Our deviations came when mixing, cooking and cutting;
  • the viscosity of the mixture was increased and the composition of the dough ended up being 1 ¼ cups of dough and 1 cup of water;
  • we mixed the ingredients with vigor with a stainless steel fork. This increased the homogeneity of the mixture IMO.
  • due to the high viscosity of the dough/batter we placed it in a cupcake sheet, charging four chambers;
  • due to the dough's increased surface area, we decreased the cooking time. The dough cooked for a total of 15 mins.;
  • during cutting the small serrated knife we were utilizing proved inadequate. In our urgency we grabbed a ceramic knife to finish the experiment. This may have affected our authenticity, however I believe that the impact was negligible as the pressure of pressing would have equalized the area under the object and it is possible that there may have been knives of comparable sharpness; and
  • these mold were noticeable better in quality than the first. This is most likely due to the vicious nature of the mixture and the homogeneity achieved in the mixing process.
• Iteration 1.3
  • For this iteration we went back to our original mixture: 1 ¼ cups of flour and 1 cup of water;
  • we cooked the dough for 20 mins and cut it in half with the ceramic knife;
  • we pressed the objects and returned the pressed sought to the oven for an additional 10 mins of cooking at 350°. IAW 140v we wanted to establish the shrinking properties of the dough;
  • we removed the molds and let them cool for 10 mins and placed them back in the oven for an additional 10 mins;
  • once again we removed the molds and measured their change in dimensions and by trying to attempt reinsert the original objects. On average the molds had shrunk approx.
    • Badge: 2 ¼ inches (original) to 2 ⅛ inches (new) - 6% decrease;
    • Carabiner: 2 inches to 1 ⅞ inches - 6% decrease;
    • Locket: 1 ¼ inches to 1 1/16 inches - 15% decrease; and
    • Coin: 1 13/16th inches to 1 9/16 inches - 13 % decrease.
• Observations:
  • Splitting was a large issue with the molds. Several pieces did not maintain their integrity under pressure and split along the sides.
  • I still question our initial decision to press the objects while still in the crust of the bread, however since some recipes do mention a 'box' used during molding (p081v, p082r, p089r, p118v-119r, 145r, p161r) this may have provided additional structural integrity to make the molds successful.

NAME: Jef Palframan & Emily Boyd
DATE AND TIME: 160900 Sep 14
LOCATION: Columbia University - Fayerweather Hall, Rm. 311
SUBJECT:Bread Molding Reconstruction

• We presented the results of our first iteration to the class. The discussion was helpful and cleared up several issues surrounding nomenclature and our understanding about what the artisan were attempting to create. It was noted that the started or yeast may provide us with the ability to retain information better or hold the result together better. If the interaction between our original Medieval Play-dough and the sulphur that is to be cast does not go as planned (i.e. breaks or provides a bad mold), then we will have isolated the yeast as the potential agent that makes the bread interact differently with the sulphur. We will only know this when we actually pour the molds, next Tuesday.

NAME: Jef Palframan & Emily Boyd
DATE AND TIME: 171300 Sep 14
LOCATION: Brooklyn, NY - Apartment on 20th floor
SUBJECT:Bread Molding Reconstruction

• Second Experiment:
  • Based on feedback from class we are going to attempt the experiment with leavening agent.
  • The apartment was a constant 72 degrees fahrenheit throughout the experiment.
  • Ingredients:
    • Flour - This time we are varying the types of flour; we are utilizing a finely stone ground wheat flour (purchased at Eataly), an whole grain ground flour (also purchased at Eataly), and rye flour (purchased at Brooklyn Fare).
    • Water - tap water at room temperature.
    • Salt - ground sea salt from the Mediterranean coast in Cyprus was used.
    • Sourdough starter - Courtesy of Dr. Smith; the culture was feed once to obtain enough to preform the experiment.
    • Equipment:
      • Mixing bowls: plastic - should not effect authenticity to a drastic amount;
      • Mixing utensils: stainless steel fork - no anticipated material effect;
      • Cutting board: large wooden - no anticipated material effect;
      • Large serrated bread knife - this was located shortly after the first experiment, should provide a more authentic result; and
      • Natural Gas Oven: Will eliminate randomness or inconsistencies that may have been present in EM ovens, however due to living conditions it is not possible to eliminate its use.
  • Iteration 2.1, 2.2, 2.3:
    • For this experiment we utilized an amalgamation of several modern sourdough recipes. EM bread recipes were very difficult to locate and the dearth of them is puzzling. Since cooking and kitchen life was more inserted into the lives of EM peoples then it stands to reason that bread and its construction was simply understood. Indeed EM peoples likely possessed a greater range of daily hands-on knowledge than we would have: horse riding, fire making, seam-stressing (sp?), and other activities involving EM kitchen technologies . As well, more complex system of various uses and origins have been passed on verbally for ages. Sourdough may simply be among the most basic vocabulary of the kitchen and therefore no many authors saw a need to reproduce its construction on paper and disseminate it;
    • For this experiment the only variable that we varied was the type of dough. We utilized three flours: a stone ground finely sifted wheat pastry flour; a whole grain wheat flour; and a rye flour (pictured below);

• all doughs were mixed in the following proportions:
  • 1 cup flour;
  • ⅓ cup starter;
  • ⅓ cup water; and
  • ⅔ tsp salt.
• all doughs were rolled into two individual balls and place in plates and covered with a clean dish towel;
• There was no noticeable difference in the sizes of the doughs while they were rising. This led us to think that we have failed in mixing the proper amounts. Alas we did not give up and marched on with the baking; and
• all doughs were cooked at 425° for 20 mins. Due to the time involved in mixing and rising, the doughs were placed in the oven in staggered 10 min intervals until all required cooking was complete.
• Observations:
  • The rye flour took the impression the best, although none of the results rivaled the results of the first experiment (i.e. simply dough and water);
  • The starter appears to have introduced cavities and defects into the impressions that may affect the final casting. Cracking and breaking were also more prevalent during the pressing stage. However, we will not know for sure until the doughs are cast.

BMR Assignment Presentation (Emily Boyd and Jef Palframan) 23 Sep 14.pptx