Comments on: It’s the shear bloody work of it (sic). Grinding http://www.rachellaudan.com/2009/11/its-the-shear-bloody-work-of-it-sic-grinding.html A Historian's Take on Food and Food Politics Wed, 3 Mar 2010 15:35:29 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: History of Greek Food http://www.rachellaudan.com/2009/11/its-the-shear-bloody-work-of-it-sic-grinding.html/comment-page-1#comment-27044 History of Greek Food Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:54:35 +0000 http://www.rachellaudan.com/?p=2158#comment-27044 Regarding Greece, it’s puzzling why time consuming and laborious saddle- quern remained in use until the end of Classical antiqutiy while hopper mill had made its appearance already in Archaic period. Did people get on pretty well with saddle- quern? Was roasting grains, before they have hardened, an effective way to make them easier to grind? Roasted grains have been preserved in archaeobotanical Prehistoric samples. Moreover, the method worked so well for barley that every Athenian bride was required by a law of Solon (early 6th B.C.) to take to her new house a phrygetron, a barley roaster. Regarding Greece, it’s puzzling why time consuming and laborious saddle- quern remained in use until the end of Classical antiqutiy while hopper mill had made its appearance already in Archaic period. Did people get on pretty well with saddle- quern?
Was roasting grains, before they have hardened, an effective way to make them easier to grind? Roasted grains have been preserved in archaeobotanical Prehistoric samples. Moreover, the method worked so well for barley that every Athenian bride was required by a law of Solon (early 6th B.C.) to take to her new house a phrygetron, a barley roaster.

]]> By: Adam Balic http://www.rachellaudan.com/2009/11/its-the-shear-bloody-work-of-it-sic-grinding.html/comment-page-1#comment-27037 Adam Balic Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:43:23 +0000 http://www.rachellaudan.com/?p=2158#comment-27037 I was sure that I had seen grain being pounded, not ground in various contexts. It seems that this doesn't produce flour, but is a way of cracking the grain so that it can be made into beer or gruel. http://www.culinaryanthropologist.org/mt/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1&tag=millet&limit=20 Grinding stones can be used for whole range of food processing, not just flour. Since you can get beer or gruel (Roman staple of emmer wheat gruel was "puls" or pulmentum, which ended up as polenta) without grinding, who did bread and grinding develop? What is the advantage over gruel? I can see how in an sifting pounded grain would yield a flour and due to the effort involved would produce some high status flat breads or griddle cakes, but how do you go from this to grinding flour as a staple activity world wide? And why is there a lot of maize grinding in Mexico, but no pounding to produce a corn gruel? I was sure that I had seen grain being pounded, not ground in various contexts. It seems that this doesn’t produce flour, but is a way of cracking the grain so that it can be made into beer or gruel.

http://www.culinaryanthropologist.org/mt/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1&tag=millet&limit=20

Grinding stones can be used for whole range of food processing, not just flour. Since you can get beer or gruel (Roman staple of emmer wheat gruel was “puls” or pulmentum, which ended up as polenta) without grinding, who did bread and grinding develop? What is the advantage over gruel?

I can see how in an sifting pounded grain would yield a flour and due to the effort involved would produce some high status flat breads or griddle cakes, but how do you go from this to grinding flour as a staple activity world wide? And why is there a lot of maize grinding in Mexico, but no pounding to produce a corn gruel?

]]> By: Cindy http://www.rachellaudan.com/2009/11/its-the-shear-bloody-work-of-it-sic-grinding.html/comment-page-1#comment-27032 Cindy Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:08:14 +0000 http://www.rachellaudan.com/?p=2158#comment-27032 Don't forget the pounding of other grains in Africa and all the songs women sing to while away the time. Have you run across data on the number of calories burned in this grain processing? Remember Richard Wrangham talking about how much time the apes spent chewing their food and how cooking relieved them eventually of that onerous task? Seems like the grinding is akin to that kind of chewing. Don’t forget the pounding of other grains in Africa and all the songs women sing to while away the time. Have you run across data on the number of calories burned in this grain processing? Remember Richard Wrangham talking about how much time the apes spent chewing their food and how cooking relieved them eventually of that onerous task? Seems like the grinding is akin to that kind of chewing.

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