Cooking For Engineers

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Fats are generally the main contributor to flavor in most baked goods. Lean breads such as French baguettes, however, are only made of flour, water, yeast, and salt.

Except for salt, these ingredients are almost tasteless and flavorless by themselves. Yet, when they are combined together along with the benefit of a little time, they prove that the whole is, indeed, greater than its parts.

Over 70% of flour content is starch which is, as we all know, a complex carbohydrate. The rest is mostly proteins.
There are two main types of proteins in wheat flour. Gluten proteins, gliadin and glutenin, are instrumental in building texture and structure.

Enzymes are the other type of proteins. They are responsible for breaking down starch into simple sugars such as glucose and fructose.

Yeast, a one-cell microorganism, feeds on some of these simple sugars. This interaction releases:

1. Carbon dioxide to assist in leavening
2. Alcohol that evaporates during baking
3. Some flavor

Most of lean bread flavor is developed during fermentation, a period of resting. During this time, dough rises as a result of carbon dioxide production from yeast, and gluten development from gliadin and glutenin.

This period also allows enzymes more time to break down starches into simple sugars. These simple sugars contribute significantly to the enjoyable flavor of a freshly-made loaf of lean bread.

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