WILD SEEDS OF FOOD VALUE 



to mean meal made from the seeds of wild plants. 

 Of these a great number have been utilized in past 

 times for this purpose by the aborigines, and still 

 are to some extent by old Indians whose taste for the 

 pabulum of the long ago has not been lost. There 

 is, it seems, a certain tang to the native vegetable 

 foods of the wild comparable to the gaminess of mid 

 flesh, that meets a need in untamed man not satis- 

 fied by the suaver products of civilization. The 

 preparation of pinole is in a general way as follows : 

 Provided with a large gathering basket of close 

 weave and a paddle, usually of rough basket-work, 

 the harvester beats the seeds — one sort at a time 

 — into the basket, until a sufficient quantity is ob- 

 tained. The chaff is then separated by sifting or by 

 w^innoAving in a light breeze, and any prickles or 

 hairiness natural to the seeds are singed off by drop- 

 ping hot pebbles or live coals among them in a shal- 

 low basket and tossing all about at a lively rate. 

 More prosaically, the same end may be attained with 

 a frying pan kept agitated over a flame. This 

 singeing process, moreover, serves to parch or 

 partially cook the seeds, which are then ground in 

 a mortar and the husks winnowed out. The resid- 

 uum of meal, mixed with a little salt, may be eaten 

 dry without further preparation. Indians in old 



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