Friday the 13th, baking and fish

Well it's Friday the 13th! I didn't really know how the whole bad luck superstition got started until today and I still don't really get it because there are many explanations offered on many different websites.

 Everything from 12 being considered the "wholeness" stage of life, and 13 being condemned by man to help suppress women because it is a fertility number that can empower women (don't know the details about that one but anyone with a little knowledge on number should pop in here to confirm or deny this one).
I also read that the knights Templar was prosecuted by the church on Friday 13th and that Jesus was crucified on Friday the 13 (again just going of websites I don't have personal knowledge).
There was a story about a party where 12 gods were invited to a party and then a 13th one showed up and created chaos, and I also found a list of histories "black Fridays" that show Friday to be unlucky. 
Although I did find some beliefs that Tuesday the 13th is bad luck instead the mass majority still goes with Friday.

Here are all the websites I looked up for references and for those looking to read the details:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0212_040212_friday13.html

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061005171810AAiRhJc

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1879288,00.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th

yeah I know I was lazy and only looked up 4 but everything else seemed to be about the movie not the day.


Last night I baked bread and buns, while kneading my dough I started thinking about how almost every recipe that I know except my family one has salt in it and I got to wondering what the salt actually does. Again I looked it up and got some very interesting answers on google, none of which I liked but that's another story and don't worry my opinion is near the end.

Here is a cut and paste from http://www.thefreshloaf.com/lessons/yourfirstloaf 
"Salt retards the yeast and helps control the fermentation process. It also adds flavor that most of us expect in even the simplest of breads."


I read numerous other sites that more or less said the same thing this site just happened to give a straight forward answer instead of chemical formulas and types of salt. I wanted a more general answer you see not a brand or type specific. 


now here's my experience


Salt slows the growth of your yeast so that you either have to add more yeast, wait hours longer or have flat bread. 
The flavor from salt although is a nice flavor that most people enjoy, is not a must. Nor does removing salt make your bread bland if you practice and know what you're doing (it gets pretty simple actually).
Also I find salt destroys the flavors of other things I add for flavoring.
Salt in breads is not good for blood pressure or other body conditions that have become more popular in the last few decades/centuries.  

Now my bread and buns yesterday got a few compliments from friends because of a mistake I done. Shhh don't tell anyone I forgot that I had left it rising before going to the gym, so the dough was rising about an hour longer than normal. Oddly I got a more sweet and slightly sour taste, which I enjoyed and might have to create more often.

Don't worry I'm not a bad host, I didn't just serve bread for supper last night, I also fried salmon in my new cast iron frying pan. I might have to ask for more people next time to help boost my ego, I normally don't cook so good.


back to cleaning for me.