Gold Medal Rye Dictionary

As I've mentioned before, promotional cookbooks in the foodservice category seem to be a bit more difficult to locate than those meant for home cooks. Why is that?

I don't know how many foodservice cookbooks I might actually have around here, but I suspect the overall percentage isn't very high. (This is when I must confess to you that I have so many advertising cookbooks I haven't even looked at all of them individually.)

Today I came across The Gold Medal Rye Dictionary (Revised Edition, 1948, 99 pages). This cookbook was published by General Mills, Inc. and shows the original copyright date as 1936. On the front cover, and on every recipe page, there is a logo with the words "Products Control - Quality and Uniformity Insured."

The first line of text clearly states the book's objective:

"The purpose of this book is to point out the profit possibilities for bakers in baked rye products."

The front half of the cookbook covers the nuts and bolts of rye flour (the General Mills varieties in particular) and some fundamentals the baker must consider in his/her efforts to successfully turn out a profitable line of rye bread and rolls. Some of the basic considerations discussed are: rye bread ingredients, rye bread production "do's and don'ts", correcting common faults of rye bread, and rye bread flavors and sours. Formulae for several different types of sours are given.

The recipes presented in the second half of the cookbook represent many variations of baked products which include Rye specialties and the standard types of Rye breads. Each recipe is illustrated with a black and white illustration of the finished product.

All of the recipes are for large quantities, of course. Ingredient quantities are given as a percentage basis and a gallon basis. Either sponge dough or straight dough is indicated. Some of the recipes are designated as "A General Mills Specialty Bread School Formula."

Recipes for the breads and rolls include: American Rye, Jewish White Rye, Milwaukee Dark Rye, Bohemian Rye (judging by the amount of food stains, this recipe was used quite a bit), Buttermilk Rye, Hunters Rye, Russian Rye, Sta-Soft White, Wheat-Rye, Specialty Dinner Rolls, Specialty Sweet Dough, Soft Rye Buns, Hard Rye Rolls, Light Pumpernickel or Kurled Rye, Medium Pumpernickel, Heavy Pumpernickel, Raisin Hearth Rye, Swedish Light Pan Rye (Limpa), Swedish Dark Pan Rye (Limpa), Orange Rye, Cheese Rye, Pimiento Rye, Tomato Rye, Pine-O-Rye (made with crushed pineapple), Potato Rye, Light Rye, Dark Rye and Special Occasion Rye.

Sigh. I'm not much of a bread baker. I wish I lived near a good bakery. Sometimes I get awfully hungry looking through these cookbooks.