Lycée d’enseignement général et technologique
Docteur Koeberlé, Sélestat [FRANCE]
Bread in Alsace and the Bread museum in Sélestat: e-mails from Première S1 and S2 (Mrs Clad's pupils) to Anagni III D pupils
Hello,
It's been such a long time that we haven't been in touch and that's why we felt we would write a few lines about the topic "Bread in Alsace".
What is the "Maison du Pain" ? It's an association of active and retired bakers in the region, which launched the museum, to offer a window into the artisan bakers of Alsace and the region's wheat related industry. The museum's goal is to help people discover and understand bread in all its forms, while promoting the craft of small-scale baking. Located in the original "Poele"or headquarters of a group of bakers formed in 1552 and surrounded by historic and prestigious monuments, it is above all an interpretive centre for tourism and culture that is open to scholars and the general public.
On this photo we can see the emblem of the bakers in Sélestat with the pretzel, the croissant, the mill wheel, sculpted on the beam in the conference room. The old monument was built in 1522.
The museum's originality is due to the fact that it is located in a building called "la Zunft". Indeed, it was a welcoming place where the bakers' corporation used to meet so as to debate about its internal business or even more joyfully to have a banquet around the huge ceramic wood burner under the kindly protection of a "Saint-Honoré" 's statue, the patron saint of bakers. Some traces still subsist today : the remains of a large fresco show the courage of bakers who became famous at the seat of Wasselone in 1445. Furthermore, situated in the heart of Sélestat, it is surrounded with prestigious historic monuments such as the Gothic Church Saint-Georges, the Roman Church of Sainte-Foy and the Humanist Library considered to be one of the most famous libraries in Europe. In a nutshell, the ancient but well-preserved district constitutes a valuable part of the city's exceptional heritage.
The exhibition of kougelhopf tins in earthware. The kougelhopf is a traditional Alsatian brioche.
In addition to its typical architecture, it cleverly relates bread and wheat history. In fact, bread was the first food developed by man after countless generations of gathering or picking for sustenance. From ancient Egypt through to today, bread has always had an important place on the table that's why the museum offers many details about the history of bread and wheat in our region and the world, the techniques and methods of baking, the tools and machines and even an introduction into today's modern baking.
http://maisondupain.org/65/Un_mus%E9e_vivant/Plan_de_la_maison.html
After having gone up the stately stairs, the visit will begin with some old devices like a kneading machine that comes from Marseille and dates back to 1870, a sieve which separates bran from grain. Then, the third floor focuses on the Neolithic that's to say the age when man attached great importance to cereals. What is interesting to note is that you will discover valuable items of Mr Schaeckle's terracotta mould collection whose shapes are fairly various and symbolic. Our ancestors must have wanted to decorate their desserts in an eloquent way.
However, the heart of the museum is a functioning modern bakery promoting traditional baking in order to produce prime bread. This living workshop gives the public a "hands-on" experience and the chance to help with demonstrations involving breads of all types including, of course, Kougelhops, pretzels and other regional specialities like "bredelas" at Christmas time. There is also an adjacent room where the different items can be tasted. Indeed, the museum's goal is to broaden the notion of "bread" from our daily life so as to rediscover the taste and the plenty of "true" bread ; therefore the "Maison du Pain" offers many programs specially adapted for the audience from exhibits, guided tours to trainings, and meetings.
To conclude, both the historic, cultural and educational aspects this place is based on, underline for sure the customs of our region but also the solidarity between the millers, the cereal growers and the bakers.
Claire M, Gabriel S and Clémence K.
Dear friends,
We are three students. Our names are Valentin, Jean and Maïté and we are 16. Our teacher asked us to tell you a little bit about bread in Alsace.
We would like to talk to you about bread in relation to the Jewish community. First of all, the traditional Jewish bread is called unleavened bread and is unique to the Jewish community. It is bread which hasn't risen and which is very flat.
There is an important reason for this. The Jews aren't allowed to eat bread with yeast because in the past, when Moses lead his people out of Egypt, they didn't have time to make bread rise and that's why they ate unleavened bread for the first time.
Nowadays, during the Easter period, they aren't allowed to eat other kinds of bread in order to remember their flight through the desert. In Alsace for example, there is a big Jewish community. As a consequence, during the Easter period, Jewish bakeries aren't allowed to make yeasted bread. Sourdough is strictly forbidden.
We can make many dishes with unleavened bread. For example, we can make quenelles, meatballs or filling with this bread. Unleavened bread is also used in cakes, flat biscuits and doughnuts. This is a recipe for doughnuts with unleavened bread (6 people):
-in a container, crumble 320g of unleavened bread, soak it and after strain it;
-in a bowl, whisk 8 eggs;
-add the unleavened bread and mix;
-fry the doughnuts which you can form with a spoon in oil;
-take the doughnuts out when they are crisp and sponge off extra fat with absorbent paper;
-you can eat them!
In the next mail, we suggest you to talk about castles in the Middle Ages.
We are looking forward to hearing from you!
Love,
Maïté, Jean and Valentin.
Dear friends,
In the 16th , 17th and 18th centuries, in the country and in towns, bread was made with non–sifted flour. In addition, bread was the main food of the poor population, which represented most of the people. They usually ate it at work because it was easy to transport , or at home soaked in soup. They didn't want to be excluded from the new society, which emerged in the late 18th century. They wanted to eat the same bread as the rich, so did the peasants. This was one of the causes of the French Revolution. The bread of the rich was of the same shape, long and round, and of the same weight. Bread was a product of whim. It was composed of butter and milk, contrary to nowadays. Bread was also crust for soup, which was the ancestor of rusk. Bread was even baked twice, which made it crispier, and therefore more delicious when you dipped it into soup. The customer usually preferred the crust of the bread.
In Alsace, where religion played an important role in people's lives,each religious feasts used to have their particular cakes. For christenings, cake tins were usually little and had the shape of a tiny, wrapped- up baby. At Christmas, godmothers and godfathers usually offered Jesus-shaped cakes. You could also find star-shaped, Santa-Claus-shaped tins or other different shapes regarding religion. There were also a lot of pastries like Christmas petits fours, "kugelhopf", and cakes of six-branch stars. At New-Year, people ate fish-shaped pastry, as well . For Easter, you could and you can still find today pastry which looks like a lamb, a hare or a rabbit. And finally at weddings, you could eat crayfish or heart-shaped cakes which symbolized fertility and prosperity. Even events like the birth of the Emperor had its special cake which represented an eagle. As we are a wine region, the grape harvest celebration had its cake too, a bunch of grapes.
Alsace had some customs related to bread. A giant pretzel composed the first breakfast of the year and was shared by all the people. In some remote Alsatian villages young men offered a pretzel to their girlfriends in order to show them their love for Valentine's day. We can notice that pretzels are a little bit heart-shaped. For weddings the guests offered a "kugelhopf" to the couple. This custom was especially perpetrated in the countryside. To celebrate St-Nicolas, on December 6th, a typical German feast, parents usually offer their children a "Maennele", a little brioche-styled boy. At Christmas time many grandmothers cook all types of little cakes called "bredele". Alsatians also eat a lot of special gingerbread such as "lekerle" at Christmas time. There is also a typical Christmas bread : the "birewecke", which is made with dried fruit. In the past, in villages there was an outdoor oven shared by the neighbours who baked their bread, after preparing the dough at home once or twice a week.
Outdoor ovenSee you soon,
Lucile and Elena.
This is Elise and Camille writing to you. We are going to talk to you about bread making in Alsace, the different techniques, the shapes, the flours, and the recipes used in Alsace.
In Alsace we use sourdough: Sourdough is a bread leavening agent used traditionally in France, more precisely in Alsace. It produces breads with rich aroma, pleasant structure and excellent keeping properties. It is made with left over dough. Sourdough is a rather dry and porous dough that can be kept refrigerated for up to a week.
However the normal bread leavening agent is normally baker's yeast which is a sort of bacteria. Most of the time this yeast is chemical.
With sourdough and flour, different kinds of bread are made. Thanks to the many flours we can find in Alsace, these breads can be prepared.
We have three particular flours:
- rye flour: This flour comes from the small and hard grain of a wheat variety.
- wheat flour: Wheat flour is the result of the soft grain of wheat moulding. This is a very fine and white flour often used to make pastry.
- « gruau » flour: « Gruau » is the thin layer which surrounds the wheat almond. In France, this flour is used to make milk bread which is really different from the first recipes that came from Austria. In Alsace, it's used to make de famous « Kouglof » .
- spelt flour: Spelt is sometimes considered a subspecies of the closely related species common wheat.
The different breads can be covered with poppy or sesame seeds too.
What about your traditions ?
Faithfully yours,
Camille and Elise.
Hello you !
We are happy to communicate with you. We are three young people : Madeline, Maya and Thomas, we are 16 .
We have to send you some information about the symbolism of bread in our region. We wrote this message in three parts : the first which deals with the secular symbolism, then we will explain you some religious symbols and finally we will give you some phrases with the word " bread " in French and in English !
First , the secular symbolism :
The pretzel's shape is full of symbols !
First , a legend said that a king wanted to have a bread in which the sun can go through 3 times ! So the baker imagined this particular shape .
Secondly, this shape comes from a typical Alsatian symbol : the Alsatian head gear which looks like a big knot .
Eventually we can speak from the knot which symbolizes union .
Then , the religious symbolism :
In the catholic religion , bread symbolizes fertility , the life which is given by God .That's why traditionally in Alsace we never wasted bread because it is a divine gift .It symbolizes sharing , in the Last Supper Jesus identified bread as his body which he broke in small parts and which he gave to all his apostles !
Today the bakers make crosses on the bread to show that it's something which is divine !
And to finish some phrases with "bread" :
in French...
- " mettre un pain " : to hit someone , to give a very strong slap.(familiar language);
- " ça ne mange pas de pain " : ( it doesn't eat any bread ) it's an act which has not any big consequences;
- " faire son pain " : ( to make his bread ) to earn money with something;
...and in English:
- " the bread of life ": there is a simple literal interpretation of this phrase, which is the food that we require for physical sustenance; it is rarely used in that way though and is most often use figuratively to mean the spiritual food needed for a full life; it is specifically used in that way by the Christian church to refer to Jesus Christ;
- "he earned enough to have his bread buttered but not enough to have it spread" means that someone earns enough money to live but just the minimum;
- when a couple is walking together, holding hands, and encounter an obstacle, if they have to separate their hands, they say "bread and butter," pass the obstacle, and hold hands again; this is a superstitious phrase.
- "he knows on which side his bread is buttered" means that he knows what is worth doing.
We hope that you'll enjoy reading our mail, and we are waiting for your answer.
Bye !
Madeline, Maya and Thomas.
Dear friends,
We are three girls called Adeline, Bénédicte and Morgane. We are 16 years old and in the same class at Lycée Koeberlé in Selestat. We're going to tell you the story of mills in Alsace. We think that it's a really interesting subject about our area.
First, let's speak about the history. A mill, from latine "molinum" stemmed from "mola", millstone, is a machine intended to grind cereal grains into flour. By extension, the term refers to the installation which animates and houses the mill, or a similar facility, leading a pump or other rotating mechanism, driven by a natural force.
The mill can be operated by various forces :
- in antiquity, the human or animal strength prevailed, we talked about ''blood mills'';
- later, the energy of the flow of water on a wheel pallets, or wind energy, powered the mills in the early days of the industry;
- today, mills are mostly used to produce energy;
- in French, the man who operates a " Moulin" is a "meunier", that equals "miller" in English.
Then, there are different sorts of mills, like : windmills, water mills, mill-wheel, mills tide, coffee mills, ball mills...
The "mill's streets" give today a little idea about the 1650 mills, which for centuries have generated energy in Alsace for the flour's production, and other food, or to run the machines of its industries, spinning mills, tanneries ... A mill equipped with a mill-wheel translates with 'Mühle mit Wasserad' or 'Wassermühle' (water mill). The oil mill is 'Ölmühle' and the flour mill is 'Mehlmühle'. Furthermore some examples of mill.
The Haut-Koenigsburg Castle's mill.
It's a wood mill on the top of a tower in a castle near the Donjon. Originally there was a mill which allowed for grain grinding and bread f making or the soldiers. But at the restoration of the castle, it was replaced by a windmill, which has never been used.
The Lembach's mill.
The Lembach's mill is situated in the Haut-Rhin (68) and is composed with a flour mill and an oil mill. In the early seventeenth century, Fleckenstein had built a paper mill. At the end of the seventeenth century: the activity of the paper mill has stopped and it has been transformed into a flour mill. In 1866, the mill was acquired by the family Lorentz who remained owner until the 1990's. In 1918, the oil mill of the eighteenth or nineteenth century became inoperative to house a small sawmill. In 1926, the flour mill was modernized: The Great Paddle wheels have been replaced by a turbine. It could then grind 60 quintals of wheat in 12 hours. In 1936, the home was expanded courtyard side: this building is the newest part of the mill. Since 1993, the mill is decommissioned.
The Becker mill in Hurtigheim.
Hurtigheim is located 10 km from Strasbourg. It is a traditional village, as we like in Alsace. A mill-wheel rotates in front of the mill for the pleasure of the eyes. This integrated in a backdrop that is reminiscent of traditional water mills. The mill was founded in 1930 by a miller. Before the Second World War, the mill was just for the exchange of wheat-flour. After expansion and transformations, the mill was completely electrified and the activity was turned to trade with a clientele of bakers and confectioners. It's one of the last mills working in a traditional way.
The mill in Schwindratzheim.
It was designed to produce flour, but also oil and crushed hemp. During the Revolution, the mill was confiscated as a national property and operated in community. On 6th September 1869 the property was sold to the family of the current owner. On October the 19th in 1905 a fire destroyed the flour mill and the adjoining house. The oil mill was operated until 1958. Currently all the equipment continues to produce hydroelectric power necessary to the comfort of the home owner.
Mill in Kircheim or "Ruhlmann's Mühle".
In the XVI century, the mill in Kircheim was expanded and converted at the rate of technical progress, and the demands of production until 1923, when it became one for farm and family. Along the river Mossig, there exist ventelleries, buildings with water, some mechanisms, old warehouses and stores fodder, buildings and mills housing, and a "summer home" built in the late seventeenth century.
Mill "Langmattermühle" or "Kreuzmühle", in the valley of Zinsel.
In 1860, the mill was equipped with three wheel troughs caused by a waterfall of 3.7 meters. Construction of the wheat mill was raised in 1908 and the mill was transformed into a furniture milling cylinder. The wheat mill ceased to operate in 1824, and the mill stopped all activity shortly after World War II. Both sets have retained some of their equipment. Some ancient texts testify to the existence in this city of several water mills.
We hope you enjoyed our presentation of mills because we liked to write it!!!
Now, we suggest a new theme about the gastronomy and restaurants in our respective regions…
Yours Sincerely…
Adeline, Bénédicte and Morgane.
Dear friends,
It is Alexandre, Kilian , and Lucas writing. We are sixteen and we all live in Châtenois which is located near Sélestat. We are going to talk about typical Alsacian food made with bread. Let us introduce you to the Alsacian gastronomic culture, especially to local specialities.
Beerawecka.
Alsace would not be Alsace without the Beerawecka ! It is traditionnally eaten during Christmas time. Dates, figs, prunes, dried pears, apricots, sultanas, walnuts and almonds are soaked in brandy and cherry brandy, then formed into decorated loaves and cooked. The cake can be kept for several months. Indeed, the more time that goes by, the better it will be.
Most people think that the name "Beerawecka" comes from Beera, which means Pear in Alsacian, and Wecka, which means bread roll. Yet this cake comes from the Jewish community that lived in Alsace.
Pretzel.
A pretzel is a baked snack that is traditionally twisted into a unique knot-like shape. The pretzel dough is made from wheat flour and yeast. Prior to baking, it is sprinkled with coarse salt, which gives it a glazed look. During baking, a reaction then gives the pretzel its characteristic brown color and distinctive flavor. In Bavaria it is obligatory in a Weißwurst breakfast.
Flammekueche.
The Flammekueche is one of the most famous gastronomical specialties of Alsace, an eastern region of France. For the composition of the dish itself, the crust is a thin bread dough rolled out in a circle or a rectangle, and is covered by crème fraîche, onions, and bacon. The dish itself looks more or less like a thin pizza .
Legend says that the creators of this dish were those Alsatian farmers who used to bake bread once a week. A Flammekueche would be used to test the heat of their wood-fired ovens. At the peak of its temperature, the oven would also have the ideal conditions in which to bake a Flammekueche. The embers would be pushed aside to make room for the tarte in the middle of the oven, and the intense heat would be able to bake it in 1 or 2 minutes. The crust that forms the border of the Flammekueche would be nearly burned by the flames.
Bettelman.
The Bettelman is also a very typical cake of Alsace. It's the cake of the poor since it literally means beggar. It's a dessert made of stale milk bread rolls, mixed with milk, sugar, egg whites, orange peel, cherries, kirsch and cinnamon.
We hope that this has been an interesting gastronomic trip which has given you the hankering to try these foods. We thought that we could introduce you to a new theme which is the poems and poets of our respective regions.
Yours Sincerely
Kilian W, Lucas D, Alexandre D.
Vegas Deluxe
Académie
Commission Européenne - EEFA