preventing them from bonding to each other Acidity in the dough — as from a sourdough culture — which weakens the gluten network by increasing the number of positively charged amino acids along the protein chains, and increasing the repulsive forces between chains Food Words: Gluten Though Chinese cooks discovered the useful properties of gluten long before anyone else (p 468), it was two Italian scientists who brought it to the attention of Europe In a posthumously published manual of 1665 on optics, the Jesuit scholar Francesco Maria Grimaldi noted that durum semolina dough for pasta contains a thick, sticky substance that dries to a hard, brittle one He named this substance gluten, using the Latin word for “glue.” Gluten in turn came from an Indo- European root gel-¸ which gave rise to a number of words meaning to form into a ball, to make a coagulated lump, to be thick or sticky: these include cloud, globe, gluteus, clam, cling, and clay In 1745, Giambattista Beccari studied gluten more carefully and noted its similarity to substances characteristic of animals: that is, he recognized that it is what we now call a protein Ingredients That Contribute to the Structure of Doughs, Batters, and Their Products Starch ... carefully and noted its similarity to substances characteristic of animals: that is, he recognized that it is what we now call a protein Ingredients That Contribute to the Structure of Doughs, Batters, and Their Products... which gave rise to a number of words meaning to form into a ball, to make a coagulated lump, to be thick or sticky: these include cloud, globe, gluteus, clam, cling, and clay In 1745, Giambattista... is what we now call a protein Ingredients That Contribute to the Structure of Doughs, Batters, and Their Products Starch