On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1157

get tangled up and slow the motion of other
molecules and granules in the vicinity. A
small number of very long amylose
molecules, then, will do the job of more but
shorteramylosemolecules,andofmanymore
bushyamylopectins.Forthisreason,thecook
canobtainthesamedegreeofthickeningfrom
a smaller amount of long-amylose potato
starchthanfrommoderate-amylosewheatand
cornstarches.

Two kinds of starch. Starch molecules are
chains made up of hundreds or thousands of
glucosemoleculesbondedtogether.Theytake
two forms: straight chains of amylose (left),
andbranchedchainsofamylopectin (right).A


longamylosechainmovesaroundinalarger
volume than the more compact amylopectin
containing the same number of glucose
molecules, and is more likely to tangle with
other chains. Amylose is therefore a more
effectivethickenerthanamylopectin.
PureStarch
Starch has been separated from the
proteinsandothermaterialsingrainssince
ancient times. The Romans called it
amylum, which meant “not ground at the
mill.”Theymadeitbygrindingwheatina
mortarandthensoakingtheflourfordays,

during which bacteria grew and digested
the grain’s cell walls and gluten proteins
whileleavingthedense,solidstarchgrains
intact. They reground the dregs, and then
pressed them through fine linen, which
retainedthesmallgrains.Thestarchgrains
were dried in the sun, and then either
cooked in milk or used to thicken sauces