Properties
Material Characteristics
Barm is the filmy substances that rises to the top of vats of ale or wine during fermentation. Barm is rich is yeast, and it is the yeast that allows bread to rise.
History & Usage
History
Nami, named by Zeta Gardner
Nami is the goddess of many things, including wine and ale.
Nami's core followers, the Rovers claim that Nami is ultimately responsible for the creation of barm yeast though stories differ and often contradict each other on major details.
Maylar is the god of many different things, including disease and decay. This essentially makes him the god of microbes.
Korus is the god of many different things, including agriculture. This essentially makes him the god of bread.
Nami gets along well with Maylar and Korus (or as well as anyone can with Maylar the psychopath and Korus the king of aloofness).
Cultural Significance and Usage
In medieval Europe, bread was extremely important, so by extension yeast was very important.
Yeast could be cultivated from the air via what we now call "sour dough starters", though the science was not well understood, pre-industrial people understood cause and effect and new under what conditions they create dough starters even if they didn't understand how it was tiny microbes leavening their bread.
Making and maintaining a sour dough starter doesn't require much in the way of material but it is a finicky process, especially with temperature regulation. If the "mother dough" gets too hot or too cold, it'll be ruined. Maintaining it is more difficult without central air and heating. Medieval people often used mother dough to leaven their bread only if they had no other choice.
Whether a Scarterran peasant farmer is making bread for her family or a baker is making bread commercially, barm yeast is viewed as the superior method of leavening bread.
Distribution
Trade & Market
Scarterrans, like most preindustrial Earth humans, do not like to waste anything.
If an individual household is making a batch of ale, they are almost certain to save the barm for making bread later, or at the very least they will give their barm to neighbors, so they can make bread.
On a larger scale, most breweries and wineries will have an economic partnership with the local bakers. Brewers often sell their barm to the local bakers. Often this takes the form of barter with a brewer giving their barm to the bakers every day in exchange for loaves of bread.
-Garan, Swynfaredian Bakerby Eron12 with Hero Forge"Ale is often called "liquid bread" and it's common for bread and liquid bread to be made in close proximity. It is common for brewers and bakers to build their homes and workshops close together. In areas with inter-guild councils, the Brewers' Guild and Baker's Guild usually vote together. And brewers and bakers get close in other ways. Unsurprisingly, my father was a baker. My father-in-law is a brewer. Almost like a political marriage between allied houses. And I still get my barm for free all these years later, so our alliance stands firm".
Storage
Unlike the modern yeast you buy at a grocery store, barm yeast has a low shelf life. It generally needs to be used within about 10 days before it stops being usable. Usually Scarterrans try to get their barm into bread dough within 48 hours.
Law & Regulation
Bread and ale are such staples of Scarterran society that they often have specific laws regulating them, but there aren't laws specifically regulating barm. Because of the very short-shelf life of barm yeast, it is difficult to steal it or scam someone with it.
Comments