Thursday 18 July 2013

SMP-cooking

I've mentioned before that in Sweden during the war egg powder wasn't used to the extent it was in Britain. In fact, I haven't seen egg powder in the sense "dehydrated eggs" in any recipe here. Instead, we had something called "SMP" – "SMP White" and "SMP Yellow" (or "SMP Yolk", the word for yolk in Swedish is simply "yellow"). Usually there's no explanation of what it is or how it is to be used; it's clearly assumed that everyone knows.


Due to circumstances I shan't go into here, I was given a "SMP Cookbook" a few years ago "for bakeries, coffee shops, restaurants and food establishments" that explains a little more in depth what it actually was.

SMP White, it's said, is a protein product in powder form "extracted from one of our most valuable nutrional foods – milk." It gives a protein solution that can easily be whipped into a firm mass with plenty of volume, excellent for meringues, to make light custards and for cooking. 3 gr of SMP White powder + 17 gr of water equals one egg white. To whip it, you mix 100 gr of powder with 1 litre water, and in order to get the best results, you should let it stand for a few hours before whipping.

Apparently this is what it would look like once it was whipped. Not too unlike egg white!

SMP Yellow is said to be made from milk and be "the equivalence of egg yolk". Nor further explanation is given, but it is stated that SMP Yellow can substituted for at least 50% of ordinary egg yolk, or egg powder. It can also be used in sauces, in various dishes, mayonnaise and ice cream and on bread and other products to greate a golden crust. 6 gr of SMP Yellow + 26 gr of water = 1 egg yolk, apparently. When baking, you can mix it dry with the flour.

Look at the happy chef, baking with his fake egg powder! Wouldn't you like to be this happy?

3 gr of the White and 6 gr of the Yellow powder mixed with 43 gr of water is said to equal one egg. You should mix the powder dry and then stir in the water. This blend is can substitute 50% of the eggs in a recipe  when baking and making "more demanding dishes" like omelettes, finer sauces, soufflĂ©es etc. For "simpler dishes" like pancakes, bread, simple cakes etc it is claimed to be able to be used entirely in the place of eggs.

Apparently this is an example of a cake made partly from egg substitute.
I'm rather sorry you can't buy it anymore, so when cooking my Swedish wartime recipes, I'll have to use real eggs instead. But it is rather intriguing, isn't it? If it worked, why did they stop making it? If nothing else, it could be good for people with allergies!

Some sort of meringues, I think, made without egg



2 comments:

  1. When you wrote: "protein product in powder form" - my first idea was: WHEY. It is whey, in one of it's earliest forms.
    Colorful meringues.. I think I''d like one.
    Good post.
    I rather liked it.

    Marija

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  2. I'd never heard of Whey, but you're right. It sounds like the same thing. Now I'm really tempted to buy some and try to cook with it!

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