Semolina Flour - History and uses

Semolina flour comes from Durum wheat, which is thought to have originated in the southern parts of the Mediterranean basin, or possibly in Abyssinia.

It was cultivated in Byzantine Egypt, where it was used for making dishes like cous cous and tabbouleh. When milled into flour, it is used for breads and pasta.

Rye Flour

Rye is one of those grains that bakers in Australia don't really understand. Apparently farmers don't either, because we have a very different soil topology here to where rye comes from in Central Europe. Thus, our rye flour is quite harsh by comparison with the european's offering, according to german bakers who have worked extensively with rye. We also have less grades of rye flour too - ours tends to be quite coarse, and so it's  difficult to make a lighter rye bread with what's available domestically.

Types of Wheat

Wheat is the second most commonly cultivated grain on earth - and it's used for everything from alcohol production to our humble loaf of bread. The wheat we grow today has its origins in the middle east emmer wheat, which has been shown to have been cultivated for over 10,000 years. Of course, like all things agricultural, wheat has been constantly hybridised and refined to produce countless varieties, suitable for many different geographical regions and uses over the centuries.

Spelt Flours Explained

Many of us are shifting away from wheat and on to spelt flour. We're using spelt because we've been advised to use no wheat at all. It doesn't seem to be used as a 'blending' flour - we are using spelt flour because we have to. That's a bit of a shame, because spelt flour makes a lovely additive to regular breads. It's also quite expensive. Certainly, making spelt bread at home will be economical compared to buying store bought spelt bread.

Once you get used to working with it, lovely breads will result.

• Wholemeal - this means that only the husk has been removed, so there is a lot of bran left in the flour. This is suitable for wholemeal breads, which will be heavier and tastier than their white counterparts.
  
• 80/20 - which is essentially wholemeal less about 20% of the bran. So it's a bit lighter, and very workable in terms of the home baker. This flour will yield quite light dough, with lots of flavour, but with all the heavy duty bran removed. You would still call this flour a wholemeal flour though.
  
• Light Unbleached - now we're getting towards white spelt flour. Essentially, this flour is 20/80, or 80% of the bran removed. A very nice general purpose breadmaking flour, still with a good amount of flavour, but with the ability to be used for producing fairly light breads and even pastries. Still imparts a very 'wholemeal' feel to the bread. It definitely isn't 'light'.
  
• White - nearly all the bran removed, this is still a very flavoursome spelt flour. Suitable for fairly light breads, and depending on the country of origin and the quality of the spelt, is capable of making excellent bread. I have found that so far, USA grown and milled spelt is a far supeior product to the locally sourced varieties.