Food of years gone by has always fascinated me … I have felt that tasting the food of other times is like sampling history…. the next best thing to actually being there. I fondly remember sampling a glass of Armagnac made before my grandfather was born, near a town in which he helped liberate in WWI. Whether it be the various Purees of the Roman’s or the Beer of the ancient Egyptians… it would transport me back to another time.
So it is with the humble cracker. This is an everyday food so commonplace in other centuries, but replaced with more fattening and sweeter alternatives. However, the humble cracker is making a comeback… be it in sometimes a more exotic form.
Chef Noriyuki Sugie has come up with an interesting twist with a cracker featuring nori (dried seaweed) and various spices. Basically it is a simple yeast dough with the garnish that making the statement.
I have some very old yeast based cracker recipes… but they take 24-36 to let the yeast rise… but it is next on my list…. along with an Armenian Cracker /bread called Lavash.
Roger Freberg