strong wheat flour vs. strong white bread flour

I want to try a bread recipe in Magnus Nilsson's The Nordic Cookbook, but in the recipe he calls for both "strong wheat flour" and "strong white bread flour". I know "strong flour" refers to bread flour (as the American equivalent), so is "strong wheat flour" supposed to mean whole wheat bread flour? or something else? Can someone tell me the difference between the two?

Katherine
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9 Comments

Greenstuff
Greenstuff May 11, 2016
Which recipe is it? In his glossary, it would seem that he means that strong wheat flour and strong bread flour are the same thing, what we in the US would call bread flour. I do know from a lot of reading in his first book Fäviken that he uses flours more like our whole wheat.

 
Katherine
Katherine May 13, 2016
The recipe is Scanian Rye Bread. I think I'm going to go with using whole wheat bread flour and see what happens.
 
Greenstuff
Greenstuff May 13, 2016
Reading that recipe in the context of the glossary, I think he meant the same thing for both flours. But reading it in the context of his wider work, I bet you'll get a result closer to his if you use some whole wheat. Let us know how it works out--I'd like to make a note in my book.
 
Jim L.
Jim L. May 11, 2016
One would infer higher protein for strong. One could also ascertain that the translator did a lame ass job of transcribing the recipes. I like my coffee extra strong especially in the morning.
 
C S.
C S. May 11, 2016
I would guess by wheat flour he means whole wheat. Is there a picture or any way to know if it is expected to be a whole grain bread?
 
Katherine
Katherine May 11, 2016
There isn't a picture but it's definitely a whole grain bread as the rest of the bread is made with light rye flour and graham flour.
 
Emily L.
Emily L. May 11, 2016
I don't have an answer to your flour question (sorry!) but I am curious how you find the cookbook? I saw him on Mind of a Chef and am intrigued by the cookbook but live in Louisiana and don't exactly forage through a Swedish forest for my ingredients (which is how I picture the cookbook's instructions). Am I totally wrong?
 
Katherine
Katherine May 11, 2016
I like the cookbook because he's very upfront about the fact that you're not going to be able to cook every recipe, but it's more of a cultural product that allows you to learn about the place and the food. You're not wrong, as I am never going to be able to find pine bark flour here (nor would I try), but the cookbook is interesting for me nonetheless.
 
Greenstuff
Greenstuff May 11, 2016
The Nordic Cookbook does have its pine bark flour, but it's not nearly so much like that as Fäviken, which I reviewed as. Piglet Community Pick https://food52.com/blog/5723-piglet-community-pick-faviken-by-magnus-nilsson

Rather, it's a wide but selected snapshot of all Nordic foods, including some weird favorites like Chilling Creamed Chicken and Banana Casserole, which was apparently poplar in the 1970s and 80s. Nilsson did lots of research, but frequently the recipes are written as the way he likes to do them. There are a bunch of other oddities I'd love to discuss too. I sometimes wonder what I'd say in a longer review.
 
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