Dissolve 1 package quick dry yeast or soften 1 cake fresh yeast in 1/4 cup luke warm water. Let stand for 5 minutes. Put 1/2 cup lukewarm water into a bowl and add 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons shortening. Add 1 cup unbleached flou r, beating thoroughly. Add the yeast mixture. Add 1/2 cup more flour, beating again very hard. Then fold in 2 egg whites beaten stiff. Add enough flour to make a soft dough -about 2 cups or 3 1/2 cups flour altogether.
Knead on a floured board until smooth, satiny and very elastic. Put in a greased bowl and let rise until doubled in bulk. Punch it down. Let it rise until doubled again. Knead it down lightly. Cover it and let it rest 10 minutes. Roll out the dough on a f loured board into an oval shape - fold long sides in toward the center. Shape into a roll about 15-18 inches long, slightly wider in the center and tapering at either end. Place it on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with corn meal. Cover it with a damp cloth and let it rise until rounded and light.
Brush the loaf with a glaze made by cooking 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 cup cold water until thick and clear, stirring constantly. Cool before spreading on the bread. Cut 1/2 inch diagonal gashes in the bread with scissors. Put a l arge pan of boiling water on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake the bread in a hot oven 450 degrees F, fifteen minutes until a golden brown. Then reduce the head to 350 degrees and bake 20 minutes more. When you thump the bread and it sounds "hollow", the bread is done. remove it from the baking sheet and cool it on a rack.
--Phoebe Green