or malted grain is grain which has been induced to germinate. It can be had either whole or in milled form. In the West most malt is made from barley, and is chiefly used in making beer and whisky, and for the production of malt vinegar; but it is also important in bread-making, and a little is turned into malt extract.
Malting is the task of maltsters, and its technology is now far advanced. In summary the process involves steeping the grain (selected for its malting quality) until it ‘chits’, which means that rootlets burst through the seed coatings; letting germination proceed for a limited time, the length of which depends on end use, and then killing the embryos by heat; kilning the ‘green malt’ to varying degrees of dryness and colour; and milling it, if appropriate.
The purpose of all this is to bring about chemical changes, of which the most important is the secretion by the growing embryo of an enzyme, amylase, which converts starch in the grain to maltose, a sugar. Dextrins, which are gummy carbohydrates with a slightly sweet taste, are also produced. The resulting malt is suitable for fermentation. If beer or vinegar is to be made from it, the milled malt is ‘mashed’ in hot water to produce a filtered liquid which is the ‘wort’ of brewers.
For bread-making, the milled malt is not mashed, but added directly to the flour. Besides being a direct source of sugar, the malt is able to convert starch in the flour to sugar. The sugar thus doubly provided feeds the yeast, helping the bread to rise well, and also provides an attractive flavour.
Much ordinary white bread, at least in Britain, contains a little malt. ‘Granary bread’ is made from a malted meal, with whole grains of cracked wheat scattered through it. There are also, in Britain, sweet, sticky ‘malt loaves’ commonly made of wheat flour and barley malt.
Malt is nutritious, providing energy from its sugar plus some B-group vitamins and minerals. During the 19th century it had a reputation in Britain as a restorative food for invalids and sickly children, and was added to their diet in various forms. Law's Grocer's Manual (c.1895) remarks that:
malt would seem to have become a boon and a blessing not to babes alone but to speculators as well. Besides malt bread, malt coffee, and malt sugar, there are various other preparations designated as malted: malted cocoa, malted marmalade, malted preserves, malted jellies, etc.
One result of this fad was the invention of malt extract. If the brewer's wort, referred to above, is not fermented but instead evaporated in a partial vacuum, the result is malt extract, a brown, sweet, and sticky concentrate. This is sometimes used in bread-making.
Malt extract, although its reputation as a health food has diminished, is still sold in dried and powdered form for making malted drinks.
See also mizuame.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
