Flour

different environment than many of the bakers who originally inspired him.

Different flour, different climate, different equipment, and a place that already had an incredibly rich bread culture of its own.

So we get into how he evaluates flour.

builds strength, manages fermentation, and thinks about hydration, and also how he adapts his process around the ingredients and conditions that he has access to.

And I think that is really the larger lesson here.

And I'm assuming you've lived there your whole life.

And I just...

I want to hear more about this because as I shared with you on Instagram, when I was there, I met up with another sourdough baker and I had no idea that people in India were making sourdough because I'm sure it's hard to source flour and it's just a different product than I'm sure a lot of people are used to there.

Uh, she did a post, it made its rounds in the gluten-free community because she made a post saying she came back from Italy and brought back all kind of Italian flours.

Uh, F-L-O-U-R-S.

Mm-hmm.

Not the blooming flowers, the milled flour, right? Brought back all kind of Italian flours and how better quality the flour was over there, and that her girlfriend, they were on a girls trip, her girlfriend with celiac was able to eat gluten over there.

In a medium bowl, we're gonna whisk together some all-purpose flour.

Brand of flour?

King Arthur's Flour.

Yeah.

Okay.

Well, number one, I love a flexible plastic bench scraper.

Oh my-

The one from King Arthur Flour-

Wait a minute.

Flour's a white powder too.

Flour's a white powder too.

So yeah, it's no mystery as to how mothers across the world have learned to feed their children because it makes them feel quote good.

Yeah.

In the posada of the village he was hailed by the contrabandist or the muleteer as one of their own race: in the gay assemblies he was an accomplished Hidalgo—at the bullfight the Toreador received his congratulations as from one who had encountered the Toro in the arena,—in the church he would converse with the friar upon the number of Ave Marias and Paternosters which could lay a ghost, or tell him the story of everyone who had perished by the flame of the Inquisition relating his crime whether carnal or anti Catholic —and he could join in the seguidilla or the guaracha.—But what rendered him more efficient than all was his wonderful power of observation and accurate description which made the information he gave so reliable and valuable to the Duke of Wellington Nothing escaped him when amidst a group of persons he would minutely watch the movement attitude and expression of every individual that composed it in the scenery by which he was surrounded he would carefully mark every object not a tree not a bush not a large stone escaped his observation and it was said that in a cottage he noted every piece of crockery on the shelf every domestic utensil and even the number of knives and forks that were got ready for use at dinner His acquaintance with the Spanish language was marvellous From the finest works of Calderon to the ballads in the patois of every province he could quote To the infinite delight of those with whom he associated He could assume any character that he pleased He could be the Castilian haughty and reserved The Asturian stupid and plodding The Catalonian intriguing and cunning The Andalusian laughing and merry In short he was all things to all men Nor was he incapable of passing off When occasion required For a Frenchman But as he spoke the language With a strong German accent He called himself an Alsatian He maintained that character with the utmost nicety And as there is a strong feeling Of fellowship Almost equal to that Which exists in Scotland Amongst all those Who are born in the departments Of France bordering On the Rhine And who maintain Their Teutonic originality He always found friends and supporters In every regiment In the French service He was on one occasion Entrusted with A very difficult mission By the Duke of Wellington Which he undertook effectually To perform And to return On a particular day With the information That was required Great was the disappointment When it was ascertained Beyond a doubt That just after leaving the camp He had been taken prisoner Before he had time To exchange his uniform Such however Was the case A troop of dragoons Had intercepted him And carried him off And the commanding officer Desired two soldiers To keep a strict Watch over him And carry him To headquarters He was of course Disarmed And being placed on a horse Was after a short time Galloped off By his guards He slept one night under Durance Vile at a small inn, where he was allowed to remain in the kitchen.

Conversation flowed on very glibly and as he appeared a stupid Englishman who could not understand a word of French or Spanish He was allowed to listen And thus obtained precisely The intelligence that he was In search of The following morning Being again mounted He overheard A conversation Between his guards Who deliberately agreed To rob him And to shoot him At a mill Where they were to stop And to report To their officer That they had been compelled To fire at him In consequence Of his attempt To escape Shortly before They arrived at the mill For fear that they might Meet with someone Who would insist On having a portion Of the spoil The dragoons took From the prisoner His watch And his purse Which he surrendered With a good grace On their arrival At the mill They dismounted And in order to give Some appearance Of truth To their story They went into the house Leaving their prisoner Outside In the hope That he would make some Attempt to escape In an instant Waters threw his cloak Upon a neighbouring olive bush And mounted his cocked hat On the top Some empty flour sacks Lay upon the ground And a horse Laden with well-filled Flour sacks Stood at the door Sir John contrived To enter One of the empty sacks And throw himself Across the horse When the soldiers Came out of the house They fired Their carbines At the supposed Prisoner And galloped off At their utmost Speed A short time after The miller came out And mounted his steed The general Contrived To rid Himself Of the Encumbrance Of the sack And sat up Riding behind The man Who Suddenly turning round Saw a ghost As he believed For the flower That still remained In the sack Had completely Whitened his fellow traveller And given him a most Unearthly Appearance The frightened Miller Was Putrified As Mrs Malaprop Would say At the sight And a push from the white spectre Brought the unfortunate Man to the ground When away rode the gallant quartermaster With his stacks of flour which at length bursting made a ludicrous spectacle of man and horse on reaching the English camp where Lord Wellington was anxiously deploring his fate a sudden shout from the soldiers made his lordship turn round when a figure resembling the statue in Don Juan galloped up to him the duke affectionately shaking him by the hand said waters you never yet deceived me and though you have come in a most questionable shape i must congratulate you and myself when this story was told at the clubs one of those listeners who always want something more called out Well! and what did Watters say? To which Alvanley replied: Oh ! Watters made a very flowery speech like a well bred man THE BATTLE OF THE NIVELLE We expected to remain quietly in our winter quarters at Saint Jean de Luz but to our surprise early one morning we were aroused from sleep by the beating of the drum calling us to arms we were soon in marching order it appeared that our outposts had been severely pushed by the french and we were called upon to support our companions in arms the whole of the british army as well as the division of the guards had commenced a forward movement Soult seeing this entirely changed his tactics and from that time viz the 9th December a series of engagements took place the fighting on the 9th was comparatively insignificant when we were attacked on the 10th the Guards held the Mayor's House and the grounds and orchard attached This was an important station Large bodies of the enemy's infantry approached And after desultory fighting succeeded in penetrating Our position When many hand-to-hand combats ensued Towards the afternoon Officers and men Having displayed great gallantry We drove the enemy from the ground Which they courageously disputed with us And from which they eventually retreated to Bayonne Every day there was constant fighting Along the whole of our line Which extended from the sea to the lower Pyrenees A distance probably Not less than thirty miles On the eleventh We only exchanged a few shots But on the twelfth Soult brought into action From fifteen to twenty thousand men And attacked our left With a view of breaking our line One of the most remarkable incidents of the twelfth Was the fact of an English battalion being surrounded By a division of French In the neighbourhood of the mayor's house; which (as before observed) was one of our principal strategical positions.

The French commanding officer believing that no attempt would be made to resist Galloped up to the officer of the British regiment And demanded his sword.

Upon this Without the least hesitation—the British officer Shouted out "This fellow wants us to surrender Charge my boys!" And show 'em What stuff we're Made of Instantaneously A hearty cheer Rang out And our Men rushed Forward impetuously Drove Off the Enemy At the point Of the bayonet And Soon disposed Of the Surrounding Masses In a Few minutes They had taken Prisoners Or killed The Whole of the Infantry Regiment Opposed On the 13th was fought the bloody battle of the Nivelle.

It made hard seeds easier to cook, easier to chew, and more versatile in the kitchen.

Flour opened the door to bread, noodles, porridges, pastries, and many other staples.

Yet milling also carried a nutritional trade-off, especially when it became refined enough to separate the starchy interior from the bran and germ.

Those outer and inner portions contain fiber, oils, vitamins, minerals, and other valuable compounds.

Refining grains could remove B vitamins, iron, and other components that had once arrived naturally with the whole food.

In response, societies developed enrichment and fortification, adding nutrients back into processed foods, all introducing them where they had not been before.

Flour could be enriched with certain vitamins and minerals.

Salt could be fortified with iodine.

And of course the answer was flour.

The kind of flour you use to make bread and cakes.

And flour is spelt F-L-O-U-R.

Jane thought it was a different kind of flower – F-L-O-W-E-R – the brightly coloured and sweet-smelling plant you might have in your garden.

That's right – flower – F-L-O-U-R.

And flower – F-L-O-W-E-R – are homophones – words that sound the same but have different spellings and different meanings – Now, homophones can be difficult to learn and the reason is because they sound exactly the same.

That's right.

I ended up with a lot of peaches and a lot of nectarines.

I also had one of Fat and Flours, Nicole Rucker's pie crust in my freezer.

And because of you and because of our podcast, I also had some frangipane in my freezer.

And so I was like, wow, I kind of have the elements available, and I also have all this beautiful fruit.