Month: June 2021

Happy Saturday from a grain-laden smiling me! We just got a delivery of 5kg barley, 5kg rye and 5kg of millet. It’s from @spaccio_bio_molinorosso, and awesome company who only sell organic, Italian grain.
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We’ll keep all the millet out, for Boza, fermented porridges and plain-old cooked millet. We eat it so quickly. (Millet was a staple grain for so much of the world before wheat and corn got a look in, why do so many regard it as animal food now?!)
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We’ll freeze the rye and take it out at intervals for freshly ground sourdough.
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A portion of the barley is already tagged for beer and subsequent bread (it’ll be first go at barley beer, I’ve only done spelt up to now). The rest will also go in the freezer to keep super-fresh.
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Buying grain, instead of flour, is better from a packaging, cost, health and taste perspective. But it requires a lot more time than pre-ground flour. Until recently, I’ve not had the space in my life for it. But slowly, priorities are shifting, we’re feeling more settled (no more moving *please*!) and I’ve a feeling this might become our new ‘normal’ pretty soon.
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@farmandhearth and I often talk on @ancestralkitchenpodcast about how new normals take t.i.m.e. I’d love to hear what’s shifting in your life and kitchen, if you want to share.

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Have you eaten lungs before? This was my first time (and my son’s too!). Here we have goat offal – heart, lungs and liver – for three (and also, coincidentally, for free!). It was carried down the hill, from @aziendaagricolapodereruggeri but my hubby, Rob. I cooked it in lard with onion, fresh garlic, sage and a little meat stock.
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We ate it with sourdough rye made from grains ground in our hand-crank mill, topped with home-rendered lard from pigs raised by @valledelsasso.
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And there’s a salad with lettuce from @radiciumane at our local contadini market, #mercatointransizione
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It was good. Why isn’t goat a more widespread?! I’ve got the flesh to cook too – planning a roast for the ribs and then a stew for the other cuts.
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And if you’re curious, the lungs were light and fluffy with a delicate flavour. My 7-year-old approved. I’ll definitely cook them again.
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More (raw and cooked) pictures in my story today and saved to nose-to-tail highlight.

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It’s getting warm here. Summer’s arrived. Still the oven’s up high for pizza. I can’t go a whole Italian summer without it!
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This is a sourdough spelt base, cooked on a pizza stone. The recipe’s in my profile and includes videos on how to stretch and fold and how to shape.
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The recipe has been called “the best pizza I’ve ever eaten” by an IG friend. If you make it, let me know how it goes!

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See those little holes in the mixture before I stir? They’re a sure sign there are plenty of probiotic bacteria in this millet ferment, Boza.
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Another day or so and this’ll be delicious to drink. Once it’s done I’ll keep it in the fridge and it’ll last us a week that way. A week of tangy, tasty, fizzy Boza.
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Course on this coming soon!

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Lard on spent beer grain bread.
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The lard was home-rendered with fat from @valledelsasso. The grains in the bread (which previously made beer) are organic, Italian, from @spaccio_bio_molinorosso.
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The love, devotion and craft that’s gone into growing/raising these food stuffs, into the selling of them, into their kitchen processing elevates them to something more than food.
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And that something nourishes us. We know it’s come from cared-for land and animals, through hands of those that give a damn, paid over-the-odds for by a family who don’t have spare cash, and then been part of a creative, manual process.
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This feeds our souls just as much as the nutrients feed our cells.
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Thank you Flavio for the fat. Thank you all at Molino Rosso for the grains. Thank you WAPF for starting me on this journey. Thank you Sandor Kraut for the beer recipe. And thank you, my reader, for encouraging me to share my little kitchen here.

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