M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1859-12-22
Rreaa.NInking i'm Snnin.

: FINDING myself about two league
from Seville, in the picturesque vii
lage of Alcade de Guadaira. but com
! monty called Alcala dc los Penadere
2 or bakers-as almost all the breaC
: consumed in Seville is made there,
! determined to know how it was made
No traveller who ever visited the soutI
of Spain fails to remark, "How deli
/ cious the bread is % 1t is white a
snow, close as cake, and yet very light
J the flavor is most delicious, Eus tn,
wheat is good and pure, and the breac
is well kneaded.
A practical demonstration is bette
, than heresay or theory, woud no
t content myself with the description o
. the process of bread making, but wen
to the house Of baker, whose pretty
; wife and daughter | had often stopped
to look at, as they were sorting the
wheat, seated on very low stools in
the porch fthe house. 1t was pret,
ty picture; their dark, sparkling eyes
rosy checks, and snowy teeth; their
hair always beautifully dressed, and
always ornamented with natural flow.
ers from their little garden in the back
ground; their bright -colored necker.
chiefs rolled in at the top, showing
the neck; their cotton gowns with
short sleeves; their hands scrupulous
/ ly clean, and 50 small that many an
aristocratic dame might have envied
them; surrounded by panniors filed
with wheat, which they took out, a
handful alta time, sorting it most ex.
peditiousIy, and throwing every delec.
tive grain in another basket.
When this is done the wheat IS
| ground between two large circular
stones, in the way it was ground in
Egypt two thousand years ago, the ro.
tary motion beng given by blind.
folded mule, which PAGES round and
round with untring patience, bell
being attached to his neck, which, as
long as he is in movement, tinkles on;
and when he stops he is urged to his
duty by the shout OF sara muLa,"
from some one within hearing. When
ground, the wheat is sifted through
three sieves, the last being so fine
that Only the pure flour can pass thro'
it; it is ola pale apricot color.
The bread is made OF an evening;
and alter sunset | returned to the bali.
er's and watched his pretty wife first
weigh the flour, and then mix it with
only just sufficient water, mixed with
u little salt, to make it into dough. -.
A very small quantity Of leaven is
added. The Scripture says: "A little
leaven leaveneth the whole lump"
but in England, to avoid the trouble
Of kneading, they put as much leaven,
or yeast, in one batch Of household |
bread as in Spain would last them a
week for the six or eight donkey loads
of bread they send every night from
their oven.
When the dough was made it was
in sacks, and carried on the donkeys' |
backs to the oven in the centre of the
village, so as to bake it Immediately !
alter it was kneaded. On arriving
there. the dough was divided into por.
tions weighing three pounds EACH
Two long, narrow wooden tables on
tressels were then placed down the
room, and, to my surprise, about
twenty men came in and ranged them
selves on one side Of the tables. a .
lump ofdough was handed to the near
est, which he commenced kneading
and knocking about, AMI then passed
it to his neighbor, who did the same,
so on successfully, till all had knead-
ed it, when it was as soft as new put
ty, and ready for tie oven. OF course,
as soon as the first baker hands the
loaf to his neighbor, another is given
to him and SO on until the whole
quantity Of dough is kneaded by them
all. The bakers wife and daugL tcrs
shape them Tor the oven. Some OF
the loaves are divided into many
smaller ones, and Immediately baked.
The ovens are very large, and not
heated by fires under them; but a
quantity OF twigs OF herbs OF the sweet
majOram and thyme, which cover the
hills in great protusion, are put into
the oven and ignited. They heat the
oven to an extent required; and as the
bread gets baked the oven gets grad
ually colder, SO the bread is never
burned.
They knead the bread in Sp ain with
such force that the palm of the hand
and the second joint Of the bakers fin
sere are covered with corns; and it so
affects the chest that they cannot
work for more than two hours at a
time. They can be heard from some
distance, as they give kind OF gut
tural sound-ha-ha-as they work,
which, they say, eases the chest. Our
sailors have the same fancy when
hosting a sail.