Rachel Laudan

Third or fourth pass grinding barley on a metate Lots more questions than I can take up.  But one that several commentators have raised is “Why did the simple grindstone survive until now in Mexico when in many parts of Eurasia it was abandoned about two or three centuries BC?” First, the Mexicans did take [...]

Grinding versus pounding. Hands up.  Who can really say what grist, pottage, meal, flour, gruel, and dozens of other words meant in the past?   Well, I can’t either, at least not without a bit of research. We are so far from the first thousands of years of grain eating that words like this just crop [...]

Really, grinding’s no sweat.  Put on a pretty dress, find ribbons for your hair, layer on the jewelry, hang your hat in the corner of the kitchen and buckle down to several hours at the metate (grindstone). This mid-20th century print of a happy grinder in the collection of the Soumaya Museum would be reason [...]