Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Fluffy Bread Makes The World Go ‘Round

Last night, while I was re-grinding some Spelt for bread, I started thinking about how many other people would bother doing this? What happened was we ordered some Spelt flour and at last one of the two bags was filled some very coarse whole Spelt.
It looked like the wheat dad ground in to chop to feed the pigs. It felt nearly as coarse, too. The biggest difference is I think the chop had a finer layer of flour on it than this mess.

While all this Spelt bran is healthy, it does not bake well. So we sifted it and used the bran for bran muffins, to line the bottom of pans that need to be floured as well as greased, and my husband eats it for breakfast.

We have an overblessing of it. I thought about it recently and wondered if I ran the flour through the blender, would it bake better?
It does. It’s not ever going to be light and fluffy, but it’s adequate, tasty, and healthy and that’s what’s important.

How many people know this? How many would form the thought to do this and act on? How many would care?
The problem is most of us don’t know much about flour or grain or what’s in a loaf of bread or the various other things we commonly eat. We have advertising and fast food and the silly idea that we don’t have time to look after ourselves and to care about what we ingest. We trust the food in the stores to be good and good for us and we don’t have a clue, or even want a clue, that white flour has the nutritional value of bunny fluff.

We’re so used to fluffy white bread that many people, if confronted with a loaf of the whole grain variety, would turn up their noses at it.

White flour has plenty of gluten. That’s why it’s all stretchy and bendy and rises high and light and stays together. It's what celiacs are allergic to and it's about all that’s left after all the healthy stuff is stripped away when the bran is removed.

I can’t recall offhand how many vitamins and minerals can be found in whole wheat, and I’m currently too lazy to search, but it’s something like two dozen. So two dozen healthy things are stripped away, maybe three are put back, and we’re sold fortified white flour.
It’s the absolute truth. It has been fortified. It was useless fluff to start with and then some good stuff was put in and we are gullible enough to be happy about it.

For as much as I’d like people to understand about food and what is really good for them, I understand why this simply must not be.
The last thing the world needs is an educated public. If we knew what we are were getting as opposed to what we should be getting in our food supply, then there just might be a revolution.
We’d want real food. Then we’d be healthier and we’d think more clearly. We might not need expensive health care products.
The world as we know it would collapse due to so many people, from junk food makers and fast food workers to medical personnel being out of work.

I’m sorry. I should never have brought this up. Ignore me. Go back to your fluffy white bread and for the good of the economy do not think.

14 comments:

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

What's really scary is just how AWFUL most commercial food really tastes but because people aren't in the habit of eating anything else, they don't notice the chemical taste of everything they're eating.

I can't eat commercially processed food any more. It tastes too much like it came out of a lab, when the plastic taste doesn't overwhelm me first. :-p

Hilary said...

"My kids only like white bread."

I've heard that from so many parents and yet it never occurs to them that their child only know white bread because they buy and serve it. My kids actually never cared for it when offered it at a friend's house. They only knew the whole grains varieties and still opt for that today. It seems like such a waste of money and calories.

Anonymous said...

I wish more people would switch to whole grains. As someone too lazy to make my own, I tend to depend on bakeries to get my whole wheat bread, pizza dough or whatever--and so often there's little choice because most people want white.

Or go to a restaurant and try to get brown rice or whole grain bread--often you're out of luck.

Leah J. Utas said...

Oh my yes, Bunnygirl. Once you've tasted real food it's awfully difficult to go back to the chemical abominations we're sold.

Hilary, that's it. Of course if it's all they know it's all they want. Good for you for getting your kids on to whole grains.

Crabby, some bakeries offer whole grain and alternate flour breads.
I've noticed when I've travelled in the States that I'm offered a choice of white, whole wheat or rye for my toast. We have white or brown here. But if it's not breakfast, then it's usually just white bread.

Reb said...

Leah, most people can't even be bothered to buy flour, let alone to do anything with it. I was asked by a woman in the grocery store what type of flour to buy for baking... whatever. She admitted it was the first time she was ever buying flour - she was at least 60 years old!

the Bag Lady said...

When the Cowboy and I first met, he ate white bread. Changed that in a hurry, and now he refuses white bread! Still won't eat Greek food, though, dammit!

Leah J. Utas said...

Reb, as much as that incident is an eyebrow-raiser at least she was asking. It suggests she wants to learn so she can do it. You're right. Most people don't bother with the basics. I wonder some days how many as still able to make the association between flour and a baked item.

dfBag Lady - Good for you for expanding the Cowboy's bread choices. Any hope for the Greek food?

the Bag Lady said...

Nope, not a chance. Never should have sprung that first souvlaki on him when he was hung-over. Sigh.

david mcmahon said...

G'day from Australia,

I came here from Hilary's blog. Enjoyed your writing style. Yeast, west, home is best!!

Leah J. Utas said...

Greetings David,

Glad you came by. Thanks for the compliment
"Yeast, west, home is best!!"
Love it.

Hilary said...

Nice to see David here over at your blog, Leah.. it often leads to things like this..

http://david-mcmahon.blogspot.com/2008/05/post-of-day.html

Just thought I'd point it out.. it was the yeast I could do.. ;)

Leah J. Utas said...

Thanks for letting me know, Hilary.

Sandi McBride said...

When people were starving in Africa the late Great Minnie Pearl had this to say: Don't send money, money corrupts...send iron cook pots and plenty of dried beans...dried beans and water to soak them in would end the starvation...
They sent money.
People are still starving.
David sent me by...so glad he did
Sandi

Leah J. Utas said...

Minnie Pearl made a wise observation.
Glad you stopped by, Sandi. I hope you'll find your way here again.