methods to the ultimate food on the table: 



In New York's Chinatown there is a factory 

 still making fresh old-fashioned plain rice 

 cakes. It does use machines to speed the 

 process, however. Electric-driven grinders 

 grind the presoaked rice. Then the ground 

 rice, including the water, is put in a muslin 

 bag and the water is pressed out by ma- 

 chine. The result is fresh water-ground rice 

 flour. A powerful steamer then steams the 

 wet ground flour, which is immediately 

 kneaded by machine into a soft dough. The 

 cakes are formed by hand. The only cook- 

 ing in the process is the steaming of the 

 flour. No seasoning is added. 



It was difficult for me to read that as an 

 account of a degraded, industrialized proc- 

 ess. After all, I normally buy anonymous 

 wheat flour in five-pound bags in a super- 

 market. But that passage got me thinking. 

 I remembered visiting the Hopi villages in 

 Arizona, distant mesas with captive eagles 

 flapping from adobe rooftops. There I 

 bought blue commeal from a woman who 

 had ground it by hand at home. It was su- 

 perbly fresh tasting and finer than any 

 flour I had ever seen before. 



Why not try this with wheat? I could 

 buy wheat berries at a health food store. 

 True, I wouldn't know what kind of wheat 

 it was or where it came from or when it 

 had been harvested. But I could mill the 

 wheat berries myself, with one of the 

 hand-powered European mills now on the 

 market in this country. I could grind them 

 to an appealing coarseness. I could sift out 

 only as much of the bran as pleased me. 



I was unable to find the hand-operated 

 French stone mill that David described, 

 but I did find an Italian metal model. Since 

 I would not be operating it at high speed, 

 perhaps its metal rollers would crush the 

 wheat berries just like a stone mill, instead 

 of shearing them to dust. As a control, I 

 decided to grind some wheat berries with a 

 mortar and pestle. 



The results by both methods were 

 greatly different from supermarket flour. 

 The "grain" of my flour was appealingly 

 unfine. I also found that bolting flour is an 

 exacting task. I did not have the right 

 cloth; so I ended up with a product flecked 

 with brown specks. Both methods yielded 

 flour fiill of personality and excellent, rus- 

 tic bread. Fortunately, I have ready access 

 to commercial stone-ground bread flour at 

 a nearby water-powered country mill. 

 Hand milling is a fine thing, but I akeady 

 have a full-time career. 



Raymond Sokolov is a writer whose spe- 

 cial interests are the history and prepara- 

 tion of food. 



WANTED: 



EXPLORERS 



AGES 8-14 



FACES explores the lives and cultures of 

 people around the world with exciting 

 articles, tales, legends, puzzles, and 

 activities. 



"... one of 

 the most 

 innovative 

 children's 

 magazines 

 in recent 

 years." 



—PARENTS' 

 CHOICE 

 AWARD 



FACES 



flB^The Magazine About People 



Please send check or money order payable to 

 FACES, American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory, Central Park West at 79th Street, New 

 York, NY 10024. AMNH Members pay just 

 $18.95 (foreign add $8) for a full year sub- 

 scription of 9 issues. 



IZifll Infill Seabrook& 

 IVUlUillll Wild Dunes 



lYUiU/UI I Wild Dunes 



Resort Guides & Reservations 



1-800-247-5050 Ext. 436 



Near Historic Charleston • Site of the Ryder Cup 



Ravenel Associates, Two Beachwal)£er,JKia?(alj,iSCJ9|5§ ,. 



THE POKE BOAT" 



IT'S EVERYTHING k pCmOE ISNT. 

 / \ 606- 



/ ^ 986- 



It weighs only 28 

 pounds. For less 

 than $800 you can 



buy more than 

 a canoe. 



iMiMMMIig 



Natural hislory wilderness float trips on a selection of the finest 

 British Columbia and Yukon rivers. Each a unique experience 

 highlighting a different combination of landscapes, waters and 

 ecosystems. Sunny forests, fjords and canyons. Glaciers, wild- 

 flowers and grizzlies, fi/Iusk ox, narwhal & gyrfalcon in the Arctic, 



Canadian River Expeditions (604) 738-4449 



#31A-3524 West 16th Ave, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6R 3C1 



Presenting 



The DR® FIELD and P 

 BRUSH MOWER 



-the amazing walk-behind brush cutter that- 



CLEARS & MAINTAINS meadows, pastures, 

 woodlots, wooded and rough non-lawn areas with 

 ease. CUTS tall grass, weeds, brambles, tough 

 brush and saplings up to 1" thick. CHOPS/ 

 MULCHES most everything it cuts. Leaves 

 NOTANGLRofbmshiopickup ~ '^ 

 like hand- held brushcuttcrs and 

 sickle bar mowers. Perfect for 

 low-maintenance wildflowcr 

 meadows, European- 

 style woodlots.^ 

 walking paths, or 

 any area you only 

 want to mow once a 

 month or once a season! 



3og-Hzoo 



COUNTRY HOME PRODUCTS® 



Dept. 2(H02F, Box 89, Ferry Road, Charlotte, VT 05445 



Rare Wood Egg Collecting 



Over 150 different 



woods from Africa, 



India, Mexico, Brazil, 



Middle-East, Asia, USA. 



Send $100 for brochure & price list. 



WOODS OF THE WORLD, INC. 



897-B North Bend Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45224 



Falkland 

 Islands 



Explore the spectacular 



wildlife colonies that cruises miss! 



Penguins, albatrosses & other 



abundant species! 



Direct flights fiiom Chile. 



Imp 



•^ I M T F 



rm/yA 



FalklanJ l.sKinds 

 Tourist Board 



INTERNAtlONAL 



PO Box 1 637C, Vashon, WA 98070 



800-368-0077 



EMEminai 



men's WIDE SHOES 



EEE-EEEEEE, SIZES5-13 



Extra width tor men wfio need 

 it, in excellent variety, styling 

 and quality. Available 

 only tfirough our 

 FREE CATALOG 

 Send for it! 



THE WIDEST SELECTION OF THE WIDEST SHOES ANYWHERE! 



HITCHCOCK SHOES. INC. 



Dept. 72 B Hingham, MA 02043 



75 



