Digesting the Complexities of Cake in Australian Society - After a Long and Textured British-European History
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Digesting the complexities of cake in Australian society - after a long and textured British-European history The how and why of cake consumption in contemporary Australia ~ A Research Project by Jessica Graieg-Morrison a1641657 ~ 1. Introduction Answering the questions of how and why people choose and consume particular foods is a complex undertaking. This essay will attempt to examine the historical development of cake to determine its role on the plates and in the minds of Australian consumers. Cake is, some argue, an unnecessary food; however, there are many cultural and social events that, seemingly, cannot occur without it present. Why has this mixture of ‘special’ ingredients so long enchanted humans and become central to numerous celebrations and cultural rituals? From ancient times sweet creations have been developed using available resources, with technological development and world travel contributing to the significant development of cake offerings available today. Whatever the age, it is cake that is used to bring people together in celebration as communities mark important cultural and personal events. As time passed and people moved around the globe, cake recipes were enriched with new meanings, ideas and symbolism. As a relatively young country, Australia was taught to bake and eat cake by European immigrants, particularly the British. Our lack of a unique cultural cuisine has seen the adoption of eating patterns from a range of international sources. Sifting through stories about cake from Great Britain, mainland Europe, America and, finally, Australia, this essay will seek to examine the cultural phenomenon of cake, particularly in contemporary Australian society. 2. What is cake? The word ‘cake’ has two slightly different, albeit related, definitions. It can be used appropriately to describe “a comparatively small flattened sort of bread, round, oval, or otherwise regularly shaped, and usually baked hard on both sides by being turned during the process”, with Scottish oatcakes as a suitable example (ODE, 2014). However, a cake in modern “Anglo-American cookery” (Weaver 2003, 288) is understood to be “a web of flour, eggs, sugar and butter (or shortening), a delicate structure that readily disintegrates in the mouth and fills it with easeful flavour … they serve as a base for even sweeter and richer custards, creams, icings, jams, syrups, chocolate, and liqueurs … [and are] often elaborately shaped and decorated” (McGee 2004, 554). As is apparent from the first definition, the concept of cake has always been closely linked to that of bread. Davidson notes that as bread is “the progenitor of [cakes, biscuits and buns]” (1999, 123) the “frontiers between” (1999, 123) these closely linked foodstuffs have always been somewhat indistinct. As far back as the Ancient Egyptians we have records of honey-sweetened bread (Davidson 1999, 123), with bakers from the classical period adding both “eggs and butter … to basic bread dough to give a consistency we would recognize as cake-like, and this was [also] frequently sweetened with honey” (Ayto, 2012). The first English cakes “were [also] virtually bread” (Ayto, 2012), and had in common with their ancient relatives their shape; all were “cake[s] also in form” (ODE, 2014). Today, the English word cake has evolved “to cover a number of [flour or meal based] preparations also generally categorized as sweet and normally considered dessert or special occasion foods” (Weaver 2003, 288). Although their history and evolution is somewhat different (Humble 2010, 10); today’s French gateau, old Austro-Hungarian torte (now perhaps German Torten) also fit this broader category. 3. How did (Australian) cake evolve? a) From the Ancients (from Bread) It appears that humankind have been baking bread, of sorts, almost as long as they have been involved in agriculture (Toussaint-Samat 2009, 201). The very “staff of life” (Toussaint-Samat 2009, 207, Mintz 1985, 75, Burnett in Minzt 1985, 127), in a world where “hunger has always existed” (Jacob 1944, 141), it is interesting to note how readily, in times or situations of plenty, bread was enriched for use in celebration and sacred occasions. We have records that the Ancient Sumerians shaped and baked breads enriched with dried fruit, nuts, oil, honey and spices – of which “the most exquisite ones were reserved for the kings and gods” (Krondl 2011, 85). Similarly, the Greeks had their “‘plakon’, usually translated simply as ‘cake’, … made of oat flour, cream cheese and honey [and a large variety of other delicacies] … sweetened with honey and spiced” (Toussaint-Samat 2009, 203). These were often “made to be eaten on particular occasions: [such as] at the theatre (stolytes and artocras, cakes rich with fat), or during religious festivities” (Toussaint-Samat 2009, 203). Several of these were used in worship and offered to Demeter and Persephone, Iris and Artemis (Toussaint- Samat 2009, 203). While the Romans initially took less interest in baking than the Greeks (Toussaint- Samat 2009, 204), they did however use “sacrificial cake[s called] … the libum, made with cheese and eggs” (Toussaint-Samat 2009, 204) in worship of the gods, given as an offering. Beyond symbolic or religious purposes, “[m]ost [cakes in the classical era] were regarded as a luxurious delicacy, to be eaten with fruit after the main course at a special meal” (Hornblower & Spawforth, 2005). In both classical cultures cakes played an important role in wedding rituals. In Greece they were “made by the bride’s own fair hands” (Toussaint-Samat 2009, 206) and given as a gift to her new husband. In Roman weddings, a cake of spelt wheat flour was “offered [by the couple] to Jupiter Capitoline … [and it was burned to] … mark[] the fact that the woman was placed under the manus (jurisdiction) of the man, and was evidence that the marriage was legal and sacred” (Toussaint-Samat 2009, 206). Another interesting ancient precursor to the modern cake, especially light sponge-style cakes that began to emerge around the time of the Italian Renaissance, is the humble pancake. Humble suggests that “[t]he ancient batter of eggs, milk and flour, particularly when fried in a shallow pan rather than on a griddle, is not so different from later raised battercakes” (2010, 20). b) From the Middle Ages (from Gingerbread, Porridge and Yeasted Bread) As time passed the compacted patty-like cakes of the Ancient world evolved into an early version of today’s gingerbread. Medieval British ‘ginger-bread’ “was usually made by mixing breadcrumbs to a stiff paste with honey and spices such as pepper, saffron, cinnamon and ginger, and then shaped by pressing it into a square” (Humble 2010, 14). These expensive scented sweetmeats continued in a similar form “into the seventeenth century” (Humble 2010, 14). Germany and the Netherlands also had thriving gingerbread industries and began exporting to England during the 1300s and 1400s respectively (Krondl 2011, 278). Using “[i]ntricately carved wooden moulds” (Krondl 2011, 279) bakers produced gingerbread in a variety of different shapes. These shapes often took on “totemic significance … [with] saints [popular choices] … [and] hearts represent[ing] love” (Krondl 2011, 279). Another, somewhat unexpected, forerunner to cake from the Middle Ages is porridge (Humble 2010, 19). One of the more luxurious forms “was an enriched version in which the oats or wheat were accompanied by dried fruits, suet, butter, honey and spices” (Humble 2010, 19) and was often served at celebrations, such as Christmas. It became so thick with luxury ingredients that “cooks began to boil it in a cloth, developing the glossy, round plum pudding that was later to play so central a role in the Victorian Christmas” (Humble 2010, 19). Baking the mixture instead (adding some ale barm as a raising agent), cooks developed the ‘plum pudding cake’ – a scarcer product to due the relative lack of bread ovens in the period. Both recipes bear the name ‘plum’ as it was “the generic medieval term for dried fruits” (Humble 2010, 19). Meanwhile, some of “the first written evidence [for the beginnings of modern cake] dates from the 1300s” (Humble 2010, 15). At this stage “the term cake … seems to refer most specifically to forms of bread that are enriched and flat, with flatness being the key distinguishing characteristic” (Humble 2010, 15). The cakes of the Middle Ages tended to be categorised as either large or small. Small cakes were often inferred by the use of “the Latin pastillus, meaning little cake or pie” (Humble 2010, 16) and were likely made of enriched bread – similar to modern ‘buns’ (Humble 2010, 16). Over on the European mainland, the Medieval French oubloier (waferer) matched these with their own “sugared galettes” (Krondl 2011, 177). Chaucer provides a contrast in the Reeve’s tale where “a cake which takes half a bushel (13kg) of flour” (Humble 2010, 16) is baked. These much “large[r] cakes flavoured with spices and sugar or honey, raised with ale barm [yeast], and enriched with cream, butter and eggs were served as centerpieces at grand occasions” (Humble 2010, 16). Other recipes of the time included currents, spices and honey. Already cakes were a symbol of pleasure and belonged “to the category of entertainment” (Humble 2010, 16) and excess – perceived to be either appropriate celebration food or perhaps ‘too much of a good thing’ (Humble 2010, 16). An important contributory factor should be noted as we consider the early emergence of cakes; great and small. It was not until the 16th century “that the walls of [English] cottages began to be sturdy enough to safely incorporate an oven” (Humble 2010, 19). This meant that “the ‘great’ (or large) cake[s were restricted] to the inhabitants of great houses – and even then, the expense of their ingredients made them strictly feast–day foods” (Humble 2010, 19). c) Throughout the 1500s: murmurs of cake Despite a lack of written recipes during the late Middle Ages (Leach et al.